


Heir Apparent

by BuckyBarnes8999



Category: Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Anal Sex, Drug Abuse, Drugs, Heavy Angst, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Hurt Tony Stark, M/M, Masturbation, Rape/Non-con Elements, Tony Angst, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-07
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:28:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 7
Words: 22,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21703741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BuckyBarnes8999/pseuds/BuckyBarnes8999
Summary: Tony Stark's parents have just died. He tries to come to terms with past and present trauma and maybe regain some modicum of normalcy.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark, Obadiah Stane/Tony Stark
Comments: 5
Kudos: 72





	1. Ladies and Gentlemen of The Press

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to add me on discord @ DeathlyHallowedGround#0704

December 21, 1991  
____________________________________________

Obadiah Stane's fingers came back wet from Tony Stark's mouth. He'd just shoved a handful of pills down the young man's throat and it took more effort than he'd thought.   
He put the rim of his own highball glass to Tony's lips and made sure he drank some of the aged Kentucky Bourbon to wash the pills down.

"Come on Tony, pull it together. Just a little press conference, a few pictures and you're done. You can go back to that shithole you call your lab and get to work, business as usual." He clapped Tony on the shoulder, the smaller man struggled with putting on his cheap gas station sunglasses.   
The limo that Stane had insisted on having was just pulling out of the private cemetery where Tony's parents now lay.

"Do I have to, Obie?" Tony's head lulled moreso than turned to look at Stane. His sunglasses slipped most of the way off his nose.

The other man took a long sip from his glass, ice tinkling against the side. "Of course _you_ do." He said with a smack of his lips. "You're the uh, man of the hour, sole heir to the Stark empire." He raised his glass a bit. 

"I don't feel like the man of the hour."

"Christ, Tony it's not about _you_. It's the legacy, it's about this company." He tossed the ice into the floorboard and refilled his glass, almost to the brim. He passed it to Tony and shook out a few more pills into his hand. "Here, open." 

Tony turned his red rimmed eyes to Obie and slowly parted his lips.   
Stane began pushing the pills one by one into Tony's mouth, almost far enough back to gag him. "It's all gonna be on cue cards, everything's been written for you, just act the part is all I'm saying."   
He held the pill bottle up and squinted to read it before shaking a few more out.

Tony downed the glass of Bourbon, he'd never been a stranger to mixing his pills with his alcohol but this seemed excessive.   
"I go up there, on a stage and read off some notes, play the part of dancing monkey and I can go home?"

"You can go home, break some stuff, fuck the maid for all I care, Tony!" Stane's fingers moved back to Tony's mouth, slowly running over his lower lip. "Just go up there, do the bit and get off the stage! After that it's whatever you want, so long as you give me something to show the board. Not some rediculous robot vacuum or something. Some firepower! Show em you're a _Stark_ and that the company won't go under!"   
Tony's head was foggy, he absently pushed Obadiah's hand away and nodded.   
Stane paused to light his cigar then slid his arm around Tony's shoulders.   
He was vaguely aware of Stane undoing his tie and unbuttoning the first few buttons on his shirt.   
The inside of the limo was almost as cold as the rainy December day outside.   
Tony could feel that cold acutely when Obadiah pulled the collar of his shirt, exposing his neck and some shoulder. 

"Stop." He slurred but Obie's mouth pressed to a barely healed bite mark at the junction of shoulder and neck.   
The drugs made Tony's mind sluggish but his body was even slower.   
Why this, why _today?_  
"Stop." He repeated, pushing at the older man's face.

"Jesus, Tony. I'm taking care of all of this for you. You're here _stoned_ and drunk off your ass and I'm left to clean it all up. You owe me something."   
Hadn't _he_ been the one to give Tony both the drugs and alcohol in the first place?

Tony made a strangled sound in the back of his throat when the lips not only pressed back to his skin but parted giving way for teeth to sink down onto him. 

Obie's hand reached down groping him through his slacks.   
He snapped his legs closed but it only succeeded in trapping the hand where it was.   
Another hand was roughly palming his chest through then thin button down.   
Why was this the way it always was? Was it to strip him down?

The middle and ring fingers of Stane's trapped hand easily rubbed up and down Tony's flaccid shaft through his clothes. 

How many-- eager and willing girls had Tony held just like this? A hand between her thighs and one teasing her breast? A shiver of embarrassment at being treated the same way ran through Tony's spine. 

He reached his hand out, grasping for the crystal liquor decanter. His fingertips only brushed it's gleaming surface. 

The shift in position was just enough to let Stane slip his hand up and then back down inside Tony's pants.   
The huge, rough hand on him was enough to make him jolt back in alarm. "Don't" He pleaded, his hand flying to grip Obie's wrist.   
The hand left his pants and grabbed the decanter.  
"That's what you want, have it." Stane pushed it to his lips and tilted it up.   
"Don't spill, you've got the press conference soon."   
Tony screwed his eyes shut and let the burning liquid pour down his throat, swallowing it down as fast as Stane could tip it into his mouth.   
When he drained the decanter he pulled away panting. His head was spinning dangerously now.   
A single drop of the Bourbon dripped down from the corner of his mouth and Stane leaned in to catch it with his tongue.   
Tony made a frightened sound as the man let his tongue wander, tracing down along his freshly shaven jawline.   
Stane wanted to mark Tony's neck but resisted, nothing visible.

The hand slid back into Tony's pants and cupped him roughly making Tony yelp. "Obie." He groaned pleadingly, trying to not close his thighs around the man's invading hand. 

The words; "You owe me something." Were on a loop in his addled head.   
The alcohol was making him feel heavy, sluggish and too warm.   
Resigned he leaned back against the man who had the upper hand on all fronts, height, weight and sobriety. 

He kept his eyes closed tightly, trying not to think too hard about any of this, just let it happen. 

Stane's hand finally teased Tony to almost full hardness, with a triumphant grin he withdrew his hand and shoved two fingers into Tony's mouth. 

Tony's eyes snapped open in surprise at the sudden intrusion. His most base of instincts told him to bite down but he managed to push the urge away.   
Stane's fingers pumped into his mouth, the pads of his fingers sliding roughly over Tony's tongue. They slid far enough back that the young man gagged.  
It brought a smile to Obadiah's face, the things he could do to that mouth.

He kept finger fucking Tony's mouth while his free hand worked to undo the young man's belt. Once the belt was undone and Tony's fly open he roughly pushed the smaller body forward, face first onto the opposite seat.   
Tony cried out against the leather of the seat. He tried righting his posture only to have Stane's huge hand push between his shoulder blades. He was too drunk, too high, too _everything_ to put up any kind of fight. 

Stane relished slowly pulling down Tony's slacks and designer underwear, inching the fabric down over the curve of Tony's pert ass.   
Tony bit his lower lip, bracing himself for whatever Obie needed to do to him.   
Fingers still slicked with Tony's saliva pressed inside the smaller man. Tony bit back a moan, squeezing his eyes shut.   
Shit, this shouldn't feel good. This shouldn't be making his thighs tremble or his cock twitch.   
"See, Tony, you're getting the hang of it!" Stane exclaimed encouragingly.   
Tony flinched at his voice and again at the sound of Obie's zipper lowering and the rustling of fabric.   
It was mere moments later he felt the heat of Stane's heavy cock against him. "Don't." He tried once more, weakly. Again _"you owe me something."_ echoed in Tony's skull. Thus, even as he protested he raised his ass for the man. 

The groan from Stane as he sank in after far too little prep was drowned out by Tony's sharp cry. The young man pulled his arms in protectively and kept his face buried on the seat. 

Obie's motions were rough, self-pleasing and _deep_. Tony had experimented with fingers before but nothing that ever filled him like Obie's dick. It almost felt like it rested behind his bellybutton when fully seated, though Tony knew that wasn't possible. 

Tony was so lost in a drug induced fog and his own thoughts he didn't realize Stane was talking. To him? No, he'd have gotten his attention by now.   
Was Obadiah seriously taking a phone call while fucking him?   
His voice sounded normal, steady, even. His hips were another matter entirely.   
As he said "No, no, we just got a little sidetracked, Tony's a little. . . You know. Yeah I've taken the alcohol out of his reach. Yes. He'll be there in five. Thank you."   
His hips were slamming into Tony's ass. 

Stane spilling his seed into Tony Stark's ass was an unceremonious affair. He simply groaned and buried himself to the hilt.   
Tony's own orgasm wasn't blissful, or earthquaking. It was dulled by intoxicants and his own shame.   
Tony whimpered and tried to curl up further, pulling legs that didn't want to cooperate into the seat.   
Again he flinched when Stane wet his handkerchief and cleaned him up. 

"Sit up, Tony, godsakes, you're wrinkling your suit." He reached out and swatted Tony's bare ass.   
The young man made an effort to sit up and get his pants back up but he was still too strung out and dizzy. His ass ached and every motion made it worse.  
Sighing, Stane helped get him looking presentable again, smoothed his pants and re-tied his tie.

"Well you look the part now." He sat back rubbing his chin. "We just gotta get you on your feet."   
Stane produced a fat vial from his jacket pocket. He took Tony's hand and tapped a thick line of white powder along his palm between his thumb and forefinger.   
When Tony sat looking dumbly at it Stane put a finger to one side of his own nose and made a sniffing sound.

Cautiously Tony leaned forward and snorted the whole thing. It was like a fist gripping his heart, his pupils covered most of his iris almost instantaneously   
"Fuck that's pure cocaine." He stated as the effect continued to ramp up.   
He hadn't realized Obie had exited the vehicle and forced himself to follow. God he dreaded this whole thing.  
Stane offered him the discarded sunglasses, he snatched them away from the man and put them on shakily.

"What're you doing for Christmas, Tony? I was thinking of stopping by with Zeke, going over a few things. Dinner? The whole thing."  
Stane made small talk as they made their way to the waiting crowds.

"I don't wanna see anybody on Christmas. I don't wanna see Zeke." Tony's voice was tight and fast.

"Nonsense, we'll be in around noon, I'll bring a bottle of something nice and we'll talk. Got papers to sign. Maybe I can look at your lab or whatever." 

"Whatever you say, Obie."

The walk to the backstage area was simultaneously endless and altogether too short. His heart raced and he couldn't keep his fingers still.   
He could tell that there was a veritable wall of press on the other side of the hastily erected stage that separated the backstage from the crowd.   
He didn't feel right, aside from the potentially deadly cocktail of drugs and alcohol swirling in his system.  
He ached all over, more than that, he realized he was actually scared to face the press. He'd been in the spotlight since before he was born. He should be used to this.   
A tiny redheaded intern approached him holding out a thin stack of cards. "Here Mr. Stark. Mr Stane said I should tell you to read over those, try to memorize them." She leaned in closer adding her own bit of sage advise. "If you forget what to say just go with what's in your heart. I think you can do it." 

He blinked after her, trying to read a name tag, security pass, anything. But, she was gone in a sweep of red hair and a click of heels, disappearing into the people who were working backstage like busy ants.

Tony tried to make himself inconspicuous, hugging close to the blue curtains that draped down beside the stage.  
He tried reading over the cards but all the words ran together and his hands were shaking too badly besides.   
When he heard Obie introduce him he dropped the cards on the floor and stepped out into the wave of applause with a smile to the press.   
He shook Obie's hand. The bigger man pulled him into a hug. Flashbulbs went off like crazy. 

"Obadiah Stane, everyone." He said into the mic as he took to the sleek black podium. "God I owe that man, so much. Like a second father to me really."   
He heard all the reporters scribbling away in their little notepads.  
"So, of course you know why we're here. I'm suddenly finding myself a 21 year old orphan with a multi billion dollar company to run. I'm Howard Stark's sole heir." Tony paused, worrying his lower lip with his teeth.   
". . . Howard Stark. That was an exceptional man, right? Worked on the serum and machinery around Captain America." There was applause again. "I know, I know. And a little thing called _the atomic bomb_." Someone cheered and Tony pointed at him in the crowd. "He gets it." He laughed easily though his heart was hammering in his chest.   
"And mom? Well. . . Maria Stark was a fucking angel." He took the sunglasses off and pinched the bridge of his nose. Flashbulbs went off again.   
"But I know some of you here don't want to listen to a guy ramble about loss. I'm here to be a futurist. I'm here to tell you Stark Industries is in just as good a shape today as it was before Howard died. We're going to build bigger and better weapons tech to keep this country safe, to keep it's people safe. We're going to do things beyond Howard's wildest dreams. We're going to keep researching arc energy, resume tests on agriculture and in medicine. It's only up from here ladies and gentlemen."   
When had the lights gotten so bright? Tony felt like he was underwater, the pressure on his head and in his ears made him stumble back.   
Obie's strong arms were around him a second later guiding him off stage.   
He replaced the sunglasses on Tony's face and pushed a glass of water into his hands.   
When Tony wasn't looking like he was seconds from passing out, Stane tossed the discarded cue cards at him. "Went a little off script eh Tony? But you did good. Til the end." 

"Thanks Obie. I don't know what- what came over me." He was panting after downing the whole glass of water in one.   
"Obie?"

"Mh?" Stane took the glass from Tony and placed it on the floor by his feet 

"Can I go home now?" 

The ride back to Stark Manor was uneventful, he was in his own car with his own driver.   
A little wave of anxiety gripped him as they turned up the white gravel drive that leisurely wound its way through the expansive grounds.  
Everything was so final now. They were buried and there was no funeral plans to distract him from their actual absence. He pushed all the emotions down deep and focused instead on his building headache. He'd started coming down from his high and just wanted to slide between the cold sheets of his bed. He could think when he sobered up.

There definitely needed to be some changes made in the household.


	2. The Places We Call Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This whole fic is heavy so there's that.

December 22, 1991  
____________________________________________

Tony woke with his head pounding. His whole body was drenched in sweat and yet he was shivering.  
He slowly extracted himself from bed and pulled the curtains closed against the offensive sun.  
Jesus Christ he hurt all over.  
He'd fallen into bed still in his suit. His tie was tight around his throat and his jacket hung limp and wrinkled half off his shoulders. Slowly, he kicked off his shoes and socks. The tie, jacket and his belt followed.  
He stripped down til he was in nothing but his black undershirt and his underwear.  
Fuck but it was exhausting just to get undressed. His head spun and a wave of nausea hit him.  
Padding quick as he dared down the hall to the huge bathroom, he only just made it to drop to his knees in front of the toilet before wretching his guts out.  
It was mostly acid which burned his throat and made the whole experience that much worse. When the wretching finally subsided he slid lower, letting his cheek rest on the cool porcelain.  
He needed a drink but decided it could wait til the room had stopped spinning. 

He didn't realize he'd drifted off again until he found himself waking up. He was curled up in the floor in the foetal position, covered in the bath mat. He stretched hard, testing to see if any of the aches had subsided. He was happy that other than his ass, the only thing that hurt was the dull headache that throbbed at his temple.  
He got the to his feet, looking at himself in the full body mirror that dominated one wall of the bathroom.  
He looked sickly. His ribs stuck out and he had dark circles under his eyes. His hair stuck out at all angles giving him a wild look. There was a dusting of stubble over his chin.  
Sighing from somewhere deep in his soul he he began to strip his underclothes off to further assess his body.  
Now the marks really showed. While there were scars over scars from accidents in the lab he didn't really mind those. What he minded were the series of bites and hickies that dotted his body from just under where his shirt collar would sit to his lower abdomen. Some of the marks were fading, yellowish but some were fresh. Especially the one that seemed perpetual on his shoulder, just at his neck.  
He slid his hands over his body-- he used to enjoy it, his body but lately. . . The reality of what exactly life was had fell on him so hard he felt like nothing could bring him pleasure ever again.  
He let his eyes roam lower, taking in his scared thighs. There were barely healed cigar burns here, and a few more bites. In Tony's opinion he had a very decent cock, not bad to look at even flaccid. Tony's hands wandered over the contour of his own ass, gently lifting his cheeks before dropping his hands away.  
He hated how his ass ached, hated the reason it did.  
He sank down to in front of the mirror, knees to the glass. 

A shaking hand slid down between his thighs and grapsed his limp cock. The other hand went to his nipple and lightly circled it.  
He squeezed his eyes closed and began to move his hand over himself, trying to tease the flesh to hardness. He let himself imagine things, girls he'd been with mostly. The string of reporters he publicly flirted with and took home just to piss Howard off. The even more endless string of cocktail waitresses and flight attendants. A parade of supple flesh, pert breasts, wet, slippery. . . Yes his cock was rising to attention at this.  
He kept pumping and teasing his nipples, imagination providing him with enough stored material. The only image that kept popping up and got pushed back down was the coat boy at his seventeenth birthday.  
Howard has shot a slur at the young man and Tony, defiant to a fault had pulled him into a closet shortly after. _Much_ to Howard's ire that little one time thing had been very public too.  
When Tony was finally fully hard he forced himself to look in the mirror. He was flushed and his cock stood straight up against his belly, twitching subtly.  
He dropped his hand from his chest and slicked his fingers in his mouth. He could get rid of the feeling of Obie, he had to replace that memory or he'd go insane. He leaned back and slowly worked his fingers in slow circles, making his bruised hole relax enough to slide one finger just inside.  
He kept his eyes trained on himself in the mirror, lips parted, panting just slightly. His hand pumped his cock faster, lingering briefly on sensitive spots. He added a second finger, whimpering at the pain that bloomed anew as he stretched himself.  
He sought out his prostate, eagerly assaulting the spot once he did.  
He let himself moan louder the closer he got, fuck who heard. This was his goddamn house now.  
The chorus of "fuh--fuck! Oh God! Fucking hell!" Came to a crescendo and Tony's hips bucked wildly up into his hand as he painted the mirror with thick stripes of cum. He let himself fall back panting and spent.  
He almost felt satisfied and comfortable, almost.  
When he caught his breath he stood and turned the shower on. He turned the hot tap on as high as it would go and left the cold untouched.  
The water which cascaded from both ends of the cavernous shower was almost boiling hot and it burned Tony's skin when he entered. He let the pain of it envelop him for a few moments before actually tempering the water down. He scrubbed his skin practically raw with a loofah, not really caring that he irritated healing wounds. He had to get rid of every trace of the feeling of Obadiah Stane's hands.  
When he noticed blood on the sponge he let it drop and slid to the shower floor, curling his body into the corner. He didn't even try to fight the sobs that tore from his throat. 

An hour later Tony emerged from the bathroom, barely composed and wearing nothing but his robe. He hadn't bothered drying very much and dripped a trail down the hardwood floor as he descended to the kitchen. On his way he grabbed a bottle of Brandy from a bookshelf and necked it.  
The cooks tried offering him food but he waved them off, just muttering, "Staff meeting, five minutes dad's study."  
He barged into the servants dining room, interrupting their lunch. He repeated what he told the cooks. "Five minutes."he reiterated before taking the back stairs up to the second floor study. 

Tony fired every last member of staff. From the valet to the scullery maid. Nobody Howard Stark had hired was allowed to stay. The only ones he allowed to remain were of course Edwin Jarvis and his wife. 

Once he'd done the firing he didn't stick around for the aftermath. He grabbed another bottle of liquor, tucked it under his arm and made his way down to Howard's lab.

Stane wanted something to show to the board? He'd give him something. 

Hours later Tony sat in the center of what looked like a whirlwind of chaos. He'd emptied the bottle of Brandy and was now polishing off the scotch. A cigarette lay forgotten in a priceless vase that Howard had beat him for touching when he was eight.  
He was sweaty and covered in grease. His hands had blisters and he was overall satisfied with the ache in his shoulders.  
Howard's lab was _destroyed_ everything was taken apart, far flung, irreparable.  
All the prototype Captain America uniforms were now later out before him.  
Fuck him. Fuck that dead frozen corpse wherever it was in the Arctic. Howard talked about him like he was God and the sun shines out of his ass. But Tony? Shit under his shoe. His own goddamn son.  
Tony tossed the empty scotch bottle and took a long drag off the cigarette. It was one of Howard's too, a long Chesterfield that had gone a little stale.  
With a deep calm in him, Tony picked up a little aluminium canister of naphtha and squeezed it, sending an arc of the fuel out over the antique fabrics of the Uniforms.  
He flicked Howard's Zippo and tossed it onto the fuel soaked items. They went up in a blaze and Tony sat there watching them burn.  
When the sprinkler system turned on he stood and began picking everything up. He was going to make this his space once and for all. Every trace of Howard would be stricken from the lab.

December 24, 1991  
____________________________________________

It had taken Tony on his own a full day and a half to clear the lab and bring his own things down from where they were sitting either in his bedroom or in storage.  
His bot he brought down first, Dum-E who he'd made years ago. Howard had confined the bot to the garage. It wasn't weapons tech, it wasn't useful. It wasn't _Stark_.

Tony Hadn't eaten anything since he started his work in the lab. It was easy to forget to do little things like that with virtually no staff and no cook to pester him. 

He sat now on a stool watching Dum-E haphazardly sweeping. He had a circuit board on his lap he'd been repairing solders on. He nearly dropped it when the phone rang somewhere to his left. 

He reached out, searching through all his tools and empty liquor bottles. Finally he picked the receiver up from it's cradle and put it to his ear. 

"Yep?" He said into the phone in a clipped tone.

"Tony!" The overly cheerful voice on the other end of the phone made his stomach tie itself in knots. "It's Christmas Eve, just calling to check up on you! Me and the kid are still stopping by in the morning. You uh. . . You doin okay?"

"I'm kinda busy, Obie, maybe a raincheck?"

"A raincheck? On Christmas? Come on Tony. We'll be by at around noon." The line went dead and a tendril of dread gripped Tony's heart. 

"I'm goin t'bed, Dum-E." He told the bot and grabbed his latest bottle of Scotch before heading upstairs.  
The house was dark and cold. He hadn't bothered with the lights or the heat since he'd fired everyone.  
He was vaguely aware that there was movement in the kitchen.  
His feet at first took him toward the sounds but after a moment it was the _heavenly_ smells that drew him in. 

He pushed open the kitchen door, the room was well lit and warmed by the oven.  
Tony was confused at everything going on around him until his eyes settled on the narrow shoulders of Ana Jarvis. The elderly woman was mixing something in a bowl with her back turned to Tony. She hummed some olden tune as she worked, adding pinches this and dashes if that to the bowl.  
She still wore her silvery hair in a classy old fashioned way. Finger waves? Had Tony heard her call the style that before?

He blinked trying to sober himself up a little so he could think properly. "Ana?"

She jumped but turned around to lock him in a warm smile. "Tony ya scared me!" She moved toward him and he let her take the bottle of Scotch away from him  
"I'm working on Christmas dinner. Want to help?" She still spoke to him in the same tone she'd used when he was a very small boy. Just like she'd have probably talked to any little boy and that's what made her exceptional. She'd not treated him like some child prodigy-tech-genius son of Howard Stark. She treated him like a real kid.

He nodded and she handed over the spoon to him. "Like this?" He asked slowly stirring clockwise. He could tell now that this was spice cake batter. He _loved_ spice cake at Christmas.  
"You're doing just fine." She said as she started buttering the tin it would be baked in. "But are you? What's wrong and don't tell me it's just you grieving."  
Tony put down the spoon and bowl. He looked down at his feet realizing he was still only in one of Howard's old cardigans and his briefs.  
She folded him into a hug and he let her, leaning down to bury his face against her sternum.  
His shoulders shook with sobs that came unbidden. She soothed him and let him cry for as long as he needed. Her hand ran gentle circles over his back.  
"It's okay Tony, just tell me what's wrong." She cooed.

"I-hic- I can't. Ana I can't." He cried harder now but let the woman guide him to a chair at the kitchen table. "I can't." He tried breathing normally when she finally regarded him with a sharp gaze but it was all hitching sobs.  
She held a kitchen towel to his nose and he blew obediently. "I'm alright Ana. Trust me." He finally managed once the tears died down to a trickle.  
She looked unsure but didn't press, she knew she wouldn't get anything out of him.  
"When's the last time you ate?" She asked knowingly.  
When was it? Tony could only shrug.  
Ana made an exasperated sound and took a plate down from the cabinet. She threw together a fat sandwich on half a French baguette and slid it to Tony. "Here, eat."  
Tony's stomach growled as soon as it was in front of him.  
He attempted to eat it like a ravenous wolf but Ana made him slow down.  
He nodded and paced himself knowing he would indeed be sick if he tried to scarf it.  
Ana turned back to her cooking and a comfortable silence settled over them. 

"Obie I bringing his brat over tomorrow."

"Hence me here playing Cook." There was only lightness in her voice.

"Do we have presents?"

"Bottle of Bourbon for Mr Stane, why don't you put together a little robotics kit for Zeke? He likes that stuff." 

Tony nodded thoughtfully. That'd probably be perfect, the kid was a genius with tech already.  
"Thank Ana, you always know what to do."  
He finished his sandwich in silence and took the plate to the sink.  
He kissed her on the cheek and made for the door. "What do you want for Christmas? New car? House? I'm buying you a house." He said as he disappeared down the hall. The weight in his chest was somehow lessened and he was able to shower, climb into bed and fall asleep peacefully for once.


	3. In The Pale Moonlight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This remains heavy but there is some ACTUAL smut in this chapter.

December 25, 1991.  
____________________________________________

There was a light snow falling. Tony had woken up before dawn and gone straight to the lab. He busied himself with the circuit board he'd discarded last night.  
When Dum-E rolled over to look over it Tony absently began walking through everything he was doing with the curious bot.  
Dum-E beeped, the tones rising higher in question.  
"Yeah, I'm building you a brother." Tony mumbled. Dum-E rolled himself in a circle and went back to cleaning up. 

This left Tony to get truly absorbed in what he was doing. 

"Tony, you down here?!"  
He was finishing up solders when the voice behind him made him jump, burning his finger with the soldering iron.  
"Fuck!" He exclaimed shaking his hand to get rid of the pain.  
Stane caught his wrist "We've been waiting an hour." He stated gruffly, he held Tony's hand up and sucked the injured finger into his mouth.  
Tony squeezed his eyes closed, laying the circuit board aside. "I, I was busy." He tried so hard to ignore the feeling of the older man's tongue slowly circling his fingertip. "I'm sorry, Obie." There was soft pleading in his voice.  
Stane stepped away, letting the hand drop as he began circling Tony. "This Howard's?" He tugged the flat lapel of the cardigan he still wore.  
Tony realized with regret, that he wasn't wearing anything but his briefs under it. When Stane had gotten a good look at him he stepped back now acknowledging the changes to the lab.  
"Really settled in eh Tony? Working on something revolutionary I hope?" 

"We'll kill em all." Tony quipped and Stane's deep laugh echoed.

"Well what, what's with all these scorch marks?" He gestured to where Tony had burnt the uniforms. "Tests gone awry?" 

"Little bit of . . . Fuel testing." Tony slid down from the stool he's been sitting on, making for the door only to be stopped by Stane's big hands.  
"Kids occupied upstairs. Mrs Jarvis is setting the table. We got a little bit of time here, Tony." Tony didn't _want_ any time. Yet he felt the cardigan being slipped from his shoulders.  
No.  
_No._

He couldn't desecrate the space he'd made his. His heart raced, he blinked back tears like a pro. "W-wait!" He gasped out just as Stane's lips pressed to his neck. "Not here." He pleaded.  
To his surprise Stane let him go. He could run now if he wanted to. He could go join the others where Obie couldn't touch him. He knew though, in the pit of his stomach that he'd only get it worse later.  
His feet moved automatically as he climbed the stairs out of the lab. On his left just at the top of the stairs were some of the unused servant's quarters. He ducked inside and Stane followed. Tony picked one of the bedrooms closest to the back of the house and furthest away from where he knew everyone else was. 

As soon as the door closed and locked behind them, Stane was on him. His mouth bit out fresh marks.  
Goddamn, Tony was too sober for this. He wished he could just sink into the ground, disappear. He wished he'd been in that car with Howard and his mom that night too.

He let himself try to disassociate and it was very effective until Stane was bending him over the bed. His ass was still sore and he hoped Obie would at least prep him properly. 

No such luck. Obie only gave him his fingers for a few moments before plunging inside. Tony screamed into the mattress and Obie pushed his head down to stifle it til he stopped.  
Tony breathed raggedly, clawing at the sheets when Stane finally let him up for breath. The other man was already moving within him. He could only vaguely tell that there was at least a little lube used. He hoped the slight wetness was lube at any rate. The way his ass ached he wasn't sure.

Stane wasn't wasting time either way. Sooner or later someone would come looking, calling them in for Christmas dinner.  
When he filled Tony's ass he pulled out and wiped his dick off on Tony's discarded underwear. "Next time shave or something for godsakes, Tony. I don't like the beard you've got goin on. Now go clean up, I'll tell everyone you're coming down." Stane left the room and Tony slid down to the floor, feeling the man's fluids leaking out.  
He didn't bother with his clothes as he snuck up the back stairs to his private bathroom.  
Again he scrubbed his skin raw under water he let practically burn him. He didn't stop to cry, or let himself wallow. He shaved, dressed in a pair of loose jeans and an AC/DC tee-shirt and made his way downstairs a fake smile plastered to his face. 

He greeted everyone, Edwin and Ana looked nice in their best clothes. He ignored the weird glare Obie's weird teenaged son Zeke gave him.  
Obie himself pulled him into a warm hug.  
"So!" Tony took a few steps back in the direction of the dining room. "I've been smelling this dinner all night and all of this morning, so should we?" His tone was overly cheerful as he lead the way. If he could only stop his heart from pounding in his chest, if he could only stop the nausea. 

The meal would have been one he'd have truly enjoyed had the circumstances been different. The foods were all his favorites. Hen and light gravy, peas with delicate pearl onions. Asparagus with hollandaise.  
But all these things tasted like sand or sawdust to him. He couldn't even stomach the spice cake.  
Even as he chatted and joked he just wished the day would end so he could go to sleep or drink himself into a coma, anything but this. 

They exchanged presents as the sunlight began to fade.  
Zeke actually seemed excited to get the box of components and of course Obie loved the Bourbon.  
Obie gifted him a new watch that he'd never wear and Ana wrapped his neck in a handmade scarf that actually warmed his heart. 

It felt like days stretched on as they all chatted and sang carols and watched the fire crackling in the hearth.  
When everyone began to yawn Tony ushered them out the door. Promising Ana that he'd take care of the cleaning and wouldn't let her insist on helping. 

He locked the doors, engaged the security system and wandered to Howard's lounge. The house was running low on hard liquor. Soon he'd have to raid the wine cellar and he didn't like how he was when wine-drunk. It made him usually end up in some dark corner crying. Even before his life went absolutely to shit.  
His fingers closed around the neck of a bottle of Bombay Sapphire, he took it with him as he descended back into the lab. 

December 26, 1991. 3:46a.m.  
____________________________________________

Some small sound woke Tony. The small change in the environment he had considered safe was enough to wake him even from the gin induced slumber.  
Someone was there. In the lab.

A sobering dread welled up in him. Was it Obie, come back to subject him to more pain and humiliation? Why wasn't the alarm going off? So many questions welled up in his sluggish brain.  
The intruder was looking through his things in the near dark. Quietly shifting things and opening drawers.  
In the dim light that filtered through the window Tony could just make out their outline.  
No, no this wasn't Obie.  
Tony reached out, sliding his hand up the wall, reaching for the panel of light switches.  
He only hesitated a moment before flipping all of them on at once, flooding the room in light.  
The intruder whirled around.  
He was tall with shoulder length hair, there were a pair of goggles pushed back on top of his head. Piercing blue eyes stared coldly at Tony amid smeared eyeblack.  
His mouth was covered in a mask of some kind.  
Tony caught sight of something glinting in the light when he scanned over the Intruders body.  
Did he have a _metal arm?_  
"Why- why are you here?" Tony broke the silence when the man began to approach. 

"You Stark?" The voice was oddly soft and gentle in spite of appearances.

Tony nodded dumbly and backed up with every step the intruder took toward him.

"I'm looking for one of Howard Stark's files. You're not my mark. If you tell me where it is, I'll just take it and leave." There was nowhere to back up now and the intruder was leaning in close. 

"I kinda burnt everything here I mean. . . No use to me. B-b-but if it's any consolation, Howard didn't keep anything important laying around here." Tony stared wide eyed at the man. What would he do now? 

There was a mechanical whirring sound as the man reached into his pocket to retrieve-- not a gun like Tony had feared but a poloroid. "This is what I'm looking for."  
It was a photo of a photo by what Tony could tell. It was an old schematic stretched out on a table while a much younger Howard Stark flashed the camera a winning smile.  
"The Vita-ray?" Tony asked.

"Do you know where I can find that schematic?" He pressed the photo in closer. 

"Probably stored away. Where? Not even I'd know." Tony shook his head and pushed the metal arm away. The engineer in him and perhaps all the gin was making him curious. "So that arm. . ?" 

The man tucked it behind his back and stood away at an angle. "What about it?" He hissed from behind the mask. 

"It's fucking gorgeous, can I look at it?" Tony reached out to try and touch it. 

"No, don't touch it." He had a look in his eyes like a wounded animal.

"What's your name?" Tony kept pushing with questions. 

There was some confusion in those icy eyes. "I don't uh. . . Winter."  
He didn't usually have to talk to anyone on missions and no one was supposed to be home. Tony's presence had really thrown him.  
"Winter?" Somehow it fit. "I'm an MIT graduate, lemme look at your arm?"  
His hand was rubbing along the cool metal, not realizing Winter could feel it. 

"Why? I'm breaking into your home, robbing you, could kill you and you're just curious about me?" He stepped back a few paces.

"You're the least threatening company I've had in here all day." The chuckle Tony tried to let out came a bit more like a sob. 

Winter's brow furrowed but he sat down when he was offered a chair "If you try to disable my arm I'll kill you." 

"Don't tempt me, at this point you'd be doing me a favor." Tony joked mirthlessly. His fingers traced over the red star painted on Winter's arm. He jumped back when the man shivered from the light touch.  
"C-can you _feel_ this?" Tony ran his hand over the sculpted metal bicep. 

Winter nodded 

"Fucking hell who made this? This is beyond our tech. Beautiful." 

"Classified, but thank you I think?"  
Tony was lifting the hand up now, slowly trailing his fingers over the gleaming surfaces of Winter's fingers. Another shiver ran through the man. 

"Is someone hurting you?" Winter asked when Tony leaned over him, inspecting the joints in the shoulder. 

"No! Why do you ask?" Tony tensed up, bristling at the question.

Winter reached up and pulled the loose collar of Tony's tee, revealing the marks he'd glimpsed. "Your body language and. . . These look less than loving."  
Tony stumbled back, clutching his shirt to himself. "I . . .I it's none of your concern. You're a hired assassin for all I know and God here I am mooning over your high tech bits, like you were the best baking soda volcano at the science fair. You-- you should leave before I alert security." He was crying and he couldn't stop it.  
Winter shook his head. "You're not going to call security." He said coolly, calling Tony's bluff. "And you're right it isnt any of my _concern_. You get to be curious about my arm, I reserve the right to be curious about this. You're a billionaire and you let this happen to--"

"I'm not _letting_ anything happen!" Tony cut him off, his tears were angry ones now. "I can't. I can't stop it! I can't make it stop!" Tony reeled back, hugging himself. "He won't stop." He sank down to the floor, sobs ripping from his throat. 

Sighing, Winter crouched down beside him, rubbing his back with the metal hand. "I didn't mean it was your fault, just that it needs to be taken care of. They hurt me too where I'm from. Different ways but. . ."  
He let himself sit on the floor, with his legs crossed. "Talk to me about it? It's been going on for a while hasn't it?" 

Tony nodded. "Since the night I turned eighteen."  
Fuck.  
"Who is it?"

Tony was starting to calm, a heavy cold settling into his gut. "Dad's business partner."

"Dad know?"

"Fuck no." Tony could feel tears welling back up. "I just want to die sometimes, Winter." 

Winter sighed deeply yet again. He reached up and loosened his mask.  
Somehow Tony had assumed there'd be something grotesque under there but it was a perfect chiseled jawline, slight cleft in the chin and full lips. "C'mere." Winter grunted, pulling Tony in close. 

Tony almost struggled in alarm, what the hell was this guy playing at? The thought of him being an assassin ran through his head again. But. . . But Winter's touch was so light and gentle, he was rubbing his back soothingly. Soon Tony found himself practically melting against this stranger.  
"It's okay." Winter cooed. "It's okay."

That's when the hard sobbing started. Tony let his arms wrap around Winter like he was his last anchor to the world. Somehow it was easier telling a stranger. Not just a stranger, a stranger who couldn't really care less, a criminal who would be gone forever whenever he decided to leave.  
Between the sobs he poured his whole story out. How it had all started so Obie would keep a secret that all seemed so trivial now. He'd gotten a girl knocked up and paid for her to have it taken care of. Howard couldn't find that out. After that, every little fuck up and favor turned into debt.  
How he couldn't even let anyone touch him lately. 

Winter listened intently and slowly rocked Tony til all he was doing was sniffling. Tears ran dry. "I'm sorry, Stark." The other man whispered. "One day you'll find someone who will treat you right, somebody who's touch will make all this bad shit melt away." 

He felt Tony's lips gently press to the skin just below his ear. "What about you? Do you think you could make it melt away?" Tony said in a disjointed and lost sounding voice. 

Winter pulled back when Tony's lips pressed to the same spot again. "No. . . No that'd be taking advantage of you. You're not okay. You-- you just told me you like women. Last I checked I'm not one of those."

Tony leaned in so his head was against Winter's chest. "Do _you_ like men?"

"Yes." Winter stated flatly. "I like either."

"My mom's dead, my father figure is raping me. I'm drinking myself to death, Obie keeps giving me dangerous mixes of drugs. None of this is anything _I_ want." Tony's grip on the rough tac gear Winter wore tightened. "But you're here and you might be some Soviet assassin, definitely a criminal, but you're making me feel so nice. You're going to disappear, but that's okay because I _want_ you." Tony couldn't look up, couldn't bear to see the rejection in his face.

"I don't think you know what you really want, Stark." Winter pushed him back and held him at arm's length. "I don't want to hurt you." 

"What could you _possibly_ do to me?" His eyes were brimming again but he kept staring at Winter, holding him with those wide brown eyes that slowly filled til they spilled over down his cheeks. 

"You gave me a lot of blackmail opportunities." Winter stated coldly and a breathy laugh escaped Tony.

"You expose me, you expose Obie and I'm better off. Try harder." He said, trying to keep a modicum composure.

"I could kill you. Have my way with you and kill you." His tone was dead serious.

"As long as it made this feeling stop inside me for just a moment. . . I don't care." 

"Have you ever really had a man before? Properly?" Winter shifted slightly where he sat.

"Almost, once." His minds eye drifted back to fumbling with the coat check boy in the closet. 

"Alright." Winter sighed as though the weight of the world were on him. "Tell me to stop if something bothers you. Promise me you'll say something if it gets uncomfortable for you. Promise."

"I promise." Tony said, breathing already irregular in anticipation. 

Winter hesitated before he leaned in and kissed Tony.  
The smaller of the pair tensed up and Winter drew back. "Okay?" He asked.

Tony nodded and pressed his lips up into the other man's of his own accord.  
Winter tilted his head and Tony deepened the kiss.  
Did he subconsciously want to be in charge? That was okay with Winter. 

Where Tony has been timid he was now eagerly kissing the man who had broken into his home.  
Winter was leaned back, supporting himself on his one hand while the metal one tangled in Tony's short cropped hair.  
He didn't hold back and small sounds Tony drew from him. The kid was admittedly good with his tongue, he knew how to kiss. He knew how to use just enough teeth and to temper the sting with a swipe of his tongue. Maybe this would be all Stark would want. Sure he'd leave with a tight discomfort in his pants but fuck it, if this satisfied the kid.

He was surprised to find himself chasing Tony's lips as they parted.  
Those lips finding that spot just below his ear again however made his eyelids flutter closed. "You're good at this." He said as Tony's lips worked against his flesh, nipping down along his neck, sucking at the pulse point and running his tongue the mark he left.  
"I've had a lot of practise." Tony said absently as he leaned back to look at the mark he'd left. It wasn't angry or painful looking and Winter had _moaned_ when he'd left it. His hand slowly went to his own neck, touching the painful bite mark at the junction of neck and shoulder. 

"Thoughts?" Winter asked, pulling him from his reverie. 

Tony slipped his shirt over his head and let it drop. Winter tried not to let his eyes betray the shock at the state of him.  
The metal hand came up and lightly brushed over all the-- he could only call them wounds. These weren't . . . Anger bubbled up in him. Tony didn't shy away from the touch, in fact the cold metal felt nice against the aching skin.  
"I'm sorry I'm not looking my best. Long week." He mused, letting a little smile ghost over his lips. Before Winter could say anything in response, Tonys hands slid over the man's chest and felt the buckles and zippers of the gear he wore. "Can you take that off?" He purred. 

"I'd normally be amused enough by letting you try to figure out how to get it off. But I think I can make an exception." He sat up straight and began unbuckling straps followed by the zippers. Slowly it peeled away, revealing his bare chest and the arm made of flesh. "Better?"  
Tony nodded and let his hands explore the sculpted muscles of the other man.  
Fuck he was gorgeous. He moved back in, pressing their bare chests together as he pressed more eager kisses to his lips. "Touch me." He panted against Winter's lips. "It's alright."  
Winter's hands slid along Tony's sides, nails lightly dragging. The metal one gave him goosebumps, as it trailed lightly over his skin.  
This was nothing like Obie.  
There was heat pooling in his loins, his cock was stirring without it being roughly coaxed into it.  
"Might not be the most tactful way to ask but; top or bottom, Stark?"  
Tony was taken aback. He suddenly felt a little raw and exposed under the bright lights of the lab. "I . . . I don't know." Could he really feel _good_ from being taken the way Obie had? His fingers felt good that was for certain but another person?  
"C-can we go to the bedroom? I think I can give you my answer by then. No pressure right?" He got to his feet and headed for the stairs, hoping Winter would follow.  
He was pleased to hear the man's heavy boots on the stairs behind him.  
The walk to Tony's room seemed fucking endless. He kept stealing secret little glances back at the man. Even given the time to rethink everything he still wanted him.  
His hand grasped the doorknob and turned "bottom." He breathed out in a rush and went inside the cavernous space.  
No light but a desk lamp was on, adding an intimate air to the room.  
Tony's personality was reflected in the space, posters were half peeling off the walls but his workspaces were an organized mess. Clearly a method in the chaos.  
There was a flying V taken apart on the desk and a sock floated in the empty fish tank.

"You sure?" Winter asked as he closed the gap between them, resting his hands on Tony's hips. When Tony nodded he picked him up with a whirring of servos and carried him to the bed. He silently hoped he wasn't being too aggressive.  
"No boots in my bed!" Tony gasped out. "This ain't a barn, Frosty."  
Winter chuckled and slowly worked the laces of his boots loose. He kicked them off and stuffed his socks into one of them.  
"No pants either I'm guessing?" He looked down his own torso to the buckle of his belt. His metal hand slid over his rippling abs down to the hem of his pants. He palmed himself briefly and breathed out a firey hot "fuck" under his breath. He slowly let his hand move back to the buckle which he undid just as slow. When it was laying on the floor and his fly undone he let his pants slide down of their own accord. "Like anything you see?" He asked in a husky voice.  
"Everything." Was Tony's strained response. His eyes were trained on the way the jet black fabric of Winter's underwear tented outward.  
"You too. Your ass I cute in those jeans but. . ." He stopped to lick his lips. "Damn I'd like to see you laying there blissed out and naked."  
He didn't have to be told twice, Stark slid out of his jeans without even undoing them.  
Winter was surprised the young man wasn't wearing a scrap of underwear. What did give him pause was it just revealed more signs of abuse. His brow furrowed again. It just wouldn't do if he ever ran across the man who'd done this to Stark.  
"You're beautiful." He found himself stating firmly.  
"You're gonna make me swoon. Get over here." He said with a cocky smile. This was a nice change from the whimpering mess down stairs. Winter didn't let himself get too confident though, he knew it was a veneer. There was pain just below the surface. He still had to go slow in spite of how his cock ached. He hadn't done anything like this in-- fuck --years.  
He slid out of his boxer briefs and climbed into bed with Tony.  
His metal fingers reached out and traveled along Tony's stomach. He traced patterns fingertips dancing just out of reach of Tony's cock. They slid down his inner thighs, touching him everywhere _but_ his rigid prick.  
"Please." Stark whimpered after a few painful minutes of this teasing.  
Winter smirked and rolled on top of him. "Please?" He leaned in and kissed the fragile young man beneath him, parting after only a few moments. With a smile he leaned in and teased out his own mark on Tony's neck, just so he'd know how different it felt to be cared for.  
The sensation left Tony moaning and digging his nails into Winter's back.  
"Like that?" He purred onto Tony's ear, tongue darting out to lightly circle the shell of it.  
Tony's eyes rolled back and he arched his hips up, eager for friction on his leaking dick. "Please hurry!" He found himself gasping out.  
Winter reached out to rummage in the bedside table for lube. When he went to slick his fingers Tony felt a stab of anxiety in his chest. "N-no!"  
Winter dropped the small bottle immediately and held his hands up. "Sorry.. shh, shh it's okay. I'm not going to forc--"

"No, that's not what I meant. . . Can I do it?" He reached out and grasped the lube and poured some out on his fingers "I'd be more sure. . . Sure that I'm-- mhh" he reached down and slid one inside himself. "Sure that I'm ready. Sure it won't hurt."  
Winter watched wide-eyed as Tony stretched himself. He clearly had practice at it. As he watched Winter's dick twitched.  
After a few minutes Tony lay back gasping "I'm- I'm ready!" He let his thighs part and Winter moved between them.  
"Remember, we can stop any time. Even if we're both close and you feel uncomfortable. I'll stop." He placed a gentle kiss on Tony's lips as he gripped himself and pressed just inside. The head popped in easily and Tony let out a soft moan.  
"Hurt?" Winter asked.  
"No it's good." He wrapped his legs around the other man so the angle was easier. Stane had never taken him like this, face to face and gently. It was a heady experience.  
Winter angled his hips along with Tony. He pressed deeper then drew back slightly, getting a feeling for the other man's body.  
"More." Tony moaned, immediately his olive skin flushed scarlet. Winter smiled down at him and rolled his hips. His cock sank in deeper than before and he knew he'd hit Tony's spot when he gasped and arched against him. "T-there, please!" 

Winter rolled his hips again, savoring the sounds the other made. 

It wasn't long before he was languidly fucking up into Tony, keeping his angle just right. He wanted the kid to cum just from being penetrated.  
He knew how to pace himself, if anything he had discipline. 

Beneath him Tony was a mess, he fisted the sheets and arched against Winter, seeking friction but receiving none.  
The man's cock moving in him was driving him wild. "F-faster!?" Tony cried out in question and just like that Winter bucked his hips just a bit more quickly.

Tony moaned with each motion, he didn't have to be quiet, nobody else was in the house and damned if they were.  
"You feel amazing inside, Stark." Winter groaned out "does it feel good?" 

The soothing, gentle words made him feel dizzy, he was close. He was close and his dick hadn't even been touched.  
He cried out, he saw stars and his brain whited out. His cock stood out from his body with how hard he came, slapping wetly back into the cum that now coated his abdomen all the way to his chest. "Winter!" He had cried out harshly as he was sent over the edge.  
"Fuh--fucking Christ!" Winter exclaimed deep in his chest, he pulled out just in time, adding to the sticky mess on Tony.

The bigger man collapsed beside Tony, both out of breath, gasping and spent. "G-good?" Winter asked when he found his voice again.  
The mattress squeaked slightly when Tony turned to look at him. Those huge, expressive brown eyes trained on him. 

After a while Winter cracked a smile. "What?" 

Tony's heart caught as the smile transformed that pretty face. "If that was just a casual fuck with a guy you're robbing I'd wager everyone you'd ever made _love_ to was still in a heap somewhere, still riding the high." 

Winter laughed now, it was a deep and easy laugh. "See I'm out of practice. Usually it's the casual mid-robbery fucks that end up in heaps. The people I make love to, well, they just liquefy." 

It was Tony's turn to laugh now. So, Winter could match him in the smart ass mouth department.  
He let his hand reach out and trace the contours of the man's face a little sadness tainted Tony's expression. 

Winter leaned in to kiss him.  
"What's wrong?" He asked when he settled back. 

"I just. . . Sounds stupid but I think I'm going to miss you." He carded his hand through that silken hair Winter had. 

"Come with me." He took the hand from his hair and kissed it's fingertips. "Let me take you away." 

"Go with you?" Tony made to pull his hand away but let it remain when Winter rubbed his cheek against the back of it. 

"I have things to tell you, Stark."


	4. Away and anywhere

December 26, 1991 10:30am.  
____________________________________________

Tony rubbed his temples.  
Winter had just told him the wildest story he'd ever heard. 

"Repeat the first part once more." He said, looking up into those stormy blue eyes. 

"I'm an ex-hydra agent, working for S.H.I.E.L.D. they've broken Soviet programming in my mind, and now they're trying to help me recover my memory. In the meantime I work for them." 

"This sounds like a dime store spy novel. And you said you'd broken in here to make sure I _didn't_ have those plans?"

Winter traced a circle on Tony's bare chest with a single metal finger. "They can't fall into Hydra's hands. Not after what they took from Howard's car." 

"What was stolen from Dad?" 

"Classified. So will you come with me?" He cracked a coy smile and raised his hand, wiggling his fingers. "I'll let you take me apart in more ways than one." His voice was intentionally low and sultry.

Tony's eyes followed the gleaming metal. "I'm working on something big. Something that will surpass anything Howard ever came up with. Can I show you?"

Winter nodded without hesitation. "Show me everything." He leaned down and kissed Tony lightly. 

Tony's eyes fluttered closed but he wiggled away. "On task, please?" He laughed and crossed to his workspace.

Winter groaned as he extracted himself from bed. "Okay, so show me this miracle." He leaned over looking at the computer screen Tony sat working at. 

After a few moments and a few weird beeps a voice came from the machine.  
"Good morning, sir." It said. "Do you have a guest?" 

"Wow, is that pre programmed?" 

"No it's AI. I call him JARVIS. Jarvis meet Winter." Tony beamed up at the other man, obviously very proud of himself.

"Hello, Winter. Very nice to meet you."  
Winter found it strange that there was some emotion in the voice. It didn't sound like some robot toy.

"Amazing, Stark." He breathed as he leaned to kiss Tony's temple.

"He goes with us. Obie can't get his hands in this. I'm not in for making my baby into a weapon." Tony powered down the computer and started stacking up components. "You got a car or what?"

"Motorcycle." Winter was slowly nudging Tony up with his hip, sliding his ass over the seat as he displaced him. 

"I can condens---h -hey." Tony stood indignant until Winter pulled him into his lap. "Well this is nice, preferable to an old metal chair, that's for sure. But does it have a cupholder?" Tony playfully joked, pretending to search over Winter's body.  
Winter's rich laugh rang out and he kissed the back of Tony's neck. 

"Take whatever you can carry. We should hurry before they send an extraction team for me."  
Tony leaned back against him, relishing the positive contact the man provided. "Lemme just think on it a minute. Shh, shh I'm trying to think how I can transport this on a motorcycle." 

"You got a duffle bag with a shoulder strap?" Winter's hands were tracing slow patterns up and down Tony's arms. Tony was making soft little sounds of pleasure at the way Winter's fingertips, both flesh and metal felt against his skin.

"I have one." Tony's voice was a little strained.  
Was he getting worked up just from sitting on Winter's lap and being touched?

"You good, Stark?" Winter asked curiously. 

Tony gently took the hands that had been running up and down his arms and slid them over his abdomen.  
"I'm fine." His voice was definitely tight. Winter kept one hand firmly just beside Stark's bellybutton and let the other slide slowly along the kid's stomach, letting metal fingertips linger on every dip and curve. Tony had muscle, quite a bit of it but it was all well hidden on his slight frame.  
"Lower." Tony whispered, his body relaxing against Winter. The hand slid slowly downward and, cool metal bumped into the tip of Tony's rigid flesh, already achingly hard, laying against his abdomen.  
Slowly, those fingers teased over it's length, a finger briefly slid over the tip, collecting the bead of pre that had gathered there. The slickened digit slid singularly down Tony's length.  
All the while Tony made that smallest and most delicious sounds.  
Smiling against Tony's ear he wrapped his hand gently around his dick, letting the metal encircle him.  
He was still amazed that anyone could hurt this young man. And for _years_? Winter decided once and for all that when his debt was paid to S.H.I.E.L.D and he had his memories, he'd kill this Obie character.  
He was so distracted by his thoughts that it surprised him when Tony arched hard against him, cock straining in his grasp, his cum spilling over his hand.  
When he'd pumped the last bit from Stark he pulled his hand away and licked it clean.  
"Th-thank you." Tony panted, resting heavily on the other man.  
"Where's your bathroom? I think we can spare time to at least shower although--" Winter leaned and pressed his nose to Tony's hair. "It's kind of intoxicating that you smell like me."  
Tony laughed and stood, his legs were shaky but stable. "C'mon. I'll give you the grand tour of the best room in the house." He offered his hand and Winter took it. 

They showered together, an easy silence settling over them as they washed.  
"Your arm is waterproof?" 

Winter nodded. "Perfectly. Not always been the case. What happened when. . . Water had gotten into it the first time stands out as a single beacon of pain in my mind to this day." His tone was light and it made Tony feel a pang of something in his gut. 

"I think I'm going to have to dismantle the stuff I need to take with me."

So, Stark's resolve to leave with Winter was firm. It relieved the man, it relieved him to his core. "You're going to like it at base. We have all the cutting edge stuff."

"Here I thought dear old dad was _the_ forefront of modern technology." Tony joked as he towelled his hair dry. 

"Exactly." Winter touched his fingertip to Tony's nose. 

"You knew him." It wasn't a question.

"Briefly. He had a really clinical approach to me. Like I was still the weapon Hydra had made me into." Winter wondered if he'd revealed too much of himself, too much of the gritty aspects of his existence. 

Tony groaned. "God he was such an----"

"Asshole? Yeah I gathered that." Winter finished for him.

Tony packed his bag after quickly breaking down some complex bits that Winter couldn't make head or tails of. He carefully wrapped everything in his clothes so it would be safe in the bag. The last thing he stowed safely away were the plans for the arc reactor

"I should leave a note or something." Tony sighed as he stood looking at the man he was running away with. "Mostly so nobody is suspicious. Mostly so there's something to tell the press." He grabbed a pen and bit of yellow legal pad. 

When he was done Winter looked the note over. It read:  
_"Dear Obie, I'm checking into rehab. I'll send schematics for the board.  
\- Tony_  
there was a sarcastic little heart drawn on the paper, Winter had no clue how a heart could even _be_ sarcastic but there it was. 

"Ready?" Winter took Tony's hand reassuringly. 

Tony nodded and they made their way through the cold, empty house. 

They left out then French doors that lead to the back patio, not wanting to draw attention by leaving through the front door.  
The snow that had fallen the night before was already melting in the weak December sun. Tony took a deep breath of the crisp air, he was feeling free, feeling hopeful. 

They picked their way over the expansive lawns, sticking mostly to paths that had hedges or lattice walls. Just because he'd fired a the staff didn't mean someone wouldn't be lurking around. 

Besides he didn't want to run into--

"Tony?! what're you doing out here? Are you ok---whos your friend?" Ana Jarvis was holding a mug of coffee and was bundled tightly against the cold. There was a bag of birdseed in her hand, she loved keeping the little birds that stayed the winter plump as possible. 

Tony cursed to himself and obscured Winter with his body a little.  
"Just a friend, Ana." 

"Leaving us?" There was a nervousness in Ana's voice. The guy hovering slightly behind Tony was a rough looking character. Looked like he could have been a killer or a robber or a _biker_. He looked a little old for Tony to have met him in school or any place respectable. If Ana only knew. 

"I'm- yes. Just for a while, Ana." Tony was about to say something else but Winter pushed past him, offering his hand. 

"Ana was it? It's a pleasure to meet you." 

Ana put the birdseed into one of the deep pockets of her coat and shook his hand. The woman was made of iron. He could tell that, maybe a little quirky, but iron none the less. She didn't flinch at his metal hand closing around her's, she shook it firmly and locked her eyes on his. "Ana Jarvis. You gonna hurt our boy? You a drug dealer or something? Kidnapper? Me n' Edwin dealt with all of those before so watch it." 

Winter gave her his most charming smile. "It's good to know that you care so much for Tony." Had he used Tony's first name before? Tony didn't think so, but he liked how it sounded.  
"My names Winter, and i--"

"Winter what?" Ana asked, sipping her coffee. 

"Excuse me?" The smile never faltered.

"You have a last name don't you?"

Did he? He searched his brain frantically and said the first surname that came to his mind.  
"Fury. I'm Winter Fury." 

Ana quirked an eyebrow. "Winter Fury? Okay, _Winter Fury_ what are your intentions with Mr. Stark?" 

"Good ones. < _your accent, are you Hungarian?_ >"  
Both Ana and Tony were taken aback by Winter's smooth transition into another language.  
Ana nodded slowly. "< _He's like a son to me. The closest thing I ever had._ >" 

"< _Will you trust me if I tell you I'm saving his life?_ >" 

Ana fixed him with a pointed gaze. Even though she was diminutive and quite old Winter was given the distinct feeling that she could probably still kick someone's ass. 

"That a Soviet star?" She reached out and tapped his metal shoulder. 

"Not anymore." 

She nodded thoughtfully. "If you don't report in. . . I have contacts." 

Winter nodded and stepped past her, expecting Tony to follow.

Yet Tony lingered. He didn't know when he'd see the Jarvises again. If he would see them again.  
He moved in close and hugged Ana with all he had. "I know I don't say this often and never to the right people, Ana. But here's a new leaf for you. I love you. You and Edwin. . . I-- I don't think I'd be the personI am today without you two."

Ana kissed Tonys hair and rubbed his back. "We love you too, Tony. Keep in touch." She stepped back from him and smiled warmly, there were tears dancing at the corners of her eyes.

Once he'd said his goodbyes it didn't take long to hop a fence or two and duck into the woods.  
Winter's motorcycle was obscured from view by a camouflage tarp and a few pine boughs. 

Winter's long shapely leg swung over the seat and he pat the remaining spot behind him.  
When Tony was secure and holding on tight he cranked the engine.  
It roared to life, seething with power between their thighs.  
"Still not too late. You sure about this?" Winter shouted over the engine.  
Tony just nodded and held tighter to the other man.


	5. Diners, Drive-ins and Dives

December 26, 1991 3:00 pm.  
____________________________________________

Riding a motorcycle made Tony's entire lower half go numb. He'd never has the pleasure of riding one before this but he hadn't expected such rough vibration.  
His brain went so hard into overdrive about how he could design a better motorcycle that he didn't even realize when they stopped.  
That is until Winter moved from in front of him and he nearly fell. 

"Oops, careful there Tony." He steadied him as he shoved a little black device into his ear.  
"I just need to talk to my superiors real quick." He said as he stepped away.

Tony swung his leg over the seat and sat mostly supporting himself on stiff, numb legs. While Winter stood just a few feet away, talking in a hushed tone with his finger to his ear. 

Tony took in their surroundings while he waited. They were in a gravel parking lot of a small run down diner. The lot was mostly empty save for a beaten up Datsun pickup and a cluster of other motorcycles. They were smaller street bikes, not like Winter's big Harley. 

Winter was walking back now, a tight smile on his face. "Well, boss isn't happy but you're in." He reached into one of the saddlebags and dug around til he pulled out a charcoal grey stretch knit sweater. 

He pulled it on over his tac gear and slipped a glove on.  
Tony realized this whole thing was solely to hide the metal arm. But hell, Winter looked good in the sweater. It hugged his form in all the right ways, broad shoulders tapered waist. Tony knew he was blushing. 

Winter gave him a little private look and playfully cuffed his chin. "Hungry?" He asked and suddenly Tony _did_ feel absolutely famished.  
He hadn't really eaten anything since the sandwich Ana had made him. He'd only picked at Christmas dinner. And before both of those his diet had consisted of exactly five cocktail olives of dubious freshness and uncounted bottles of liquor.

"Come on then." He playfully pulled Tony along, tucking the kid under his arm. 

The diner was of course as empty as the parking lot. There were around six or so rough looking men and women grouped in a big booth. The owners of the bikes no doubt. A few old men sat at the counter and that was it as far as patrons went.  
A little teenaged girl was the sole waitress and she showed Winter and Tony to a table. The seat and tabletop was vaguely sticky. Not quite enough to adhere to anything but just enough to notice.  
The girl-- who had introduced herself as Heather-- took their drink order with practised cheer.  
Winter ordered water and Tony ordered "Oh God please just a whole pot of black coffee"

Tony kept his sunglasses on and it let him discreetly observe the other patrons of the diner. The bikers were loud, boisterous, and fuck all rude to little Heather.  
They bugged her for this and that so much that it took nearly five minutes for Winter and Tony to get their drinks.  
"H-have we decided on some food, guys?" Her cheerful veneer slipping just slightly. 

Winter started to open his mouth but Tony cut him off. "Actually. Heather, was it?" He flashed her his reporter-slash+flight-attendant-slash-cocktail-waitresses charming smile and lowered his sunglasses. "You a senior?"  
She nodded.  
"College plans?"  
Again she nodded. "That's why I'm working here at this shithole. To save up."

"Which school?"

"Sounds silly for some small town girl but I've applied for Harvard law."

"Look me up when you're a lawyer then, Heather. I always need good legal counsel."  
He winked.  
She blushed.  
Winter cleared his throat. 

"Oh! Sorry. Where is my head! What can I get for you two?"

"Burger, rare. And uhhh fries." Winter handed over his menu with a smile. "Tony?"

"Just give me the same, medium though. Not rare." She took his menu and a spark of recognition flashed on her face.

She leaned in down, looking shocked. "Tony _Stark_? I can't believe it." Her tone was an excited whisper. 

Both Tony and Winter looked around to see if anyone overheard. They were in the clear.  
"Yep that's me. But keep this our little secret. Right, Heather? You never saw me."  
She nodded and left to put their order in. 

"You grab attention, don't you Stark?" Winter sounded amused and his eyes twinkled with mirth.

"You think. . . I mean, is it allowed to tip someone their entire college tuition?" Tony asked as he poured the contents of a hip flask into the dregs of his coffee.

"I don't think there's a law against it. You'd probably give her a heart attack though." Winter laughed and sipped at his water. 

The bikers in the corner were starting to grate on everyone's nerves. Their derogatory language toward Heather was what was really starting to piss Tony off.

He fidgeted nervously with his fries, barely touching the food after a few bites. 

It took a while for him to notice the clear look of discomfort on Winter's face. His gloved left hand flexed and stretched. Flexed and stretched.  
"Y-you okay, Winter?" His hand reached out to grasp Winter's but the other man pulled it back sharply. 

"Just a little pain, Tony." He said through grit teeth. 

"Need any help?"

"No. I'm used to it." 

"Bullshit." Tony stated, reaching out to grasp the hand Winter kept trying to pull away.  
One touch was all it took and Tony drew his hand back with a surprised yelp.  
"Jesus fuck." 

"We've been here longer than I thought we'd be. It overheats if I keep it covered too long."  
He said through grit teeth.

"My ass, you could put the grill back there out of a job." Tony put his hand around Winter's water glass to soothe the sting.

"It's fine Tony." Winter stated in a warning tone. 

"It's not we can take this to g--"

One of the bikers voices raised loudly over the rest. "Hey! Waitress, are you just gonna suck cock behind that counter over there all day, or bring me some goddamn ketchup?!"

That was all Winter could stand.

He stood up with a rattling of flatware. "You!" He shouted pointing square at the man who'd spoken. "Outside." He approached the table and slammed the hand made of flesh on its surface. "Now!"  
The he turned on his heel. 

Tony scrambled after him, trying to get ahead of the flow of bikers who were all rising to their feet. 

"Winter?!" He questioned in a panic. 

"Go sit by the bike, Tony, stash your stuff." Winter was ripping the sweater and glove off. The material appeared half melted. A cloud of steam seemed to radiate from the metal of the arm in the icy, damp December air.  
"Winter. . ." 

" _Tony_ "  
Bikers were filtering out, forming a loose ring.  
Tony retreated, stashing Jarvis and his clothes next to the news paper machines and ice cooler. 

"Ah jeeze, a cripple?" The guy Winter had called out laughed. He was almost a head taller than winter which would have put him at around 6'5. He was a wall of a man too, built like a brick shithouse.  
The other bikers laughed like he'd just told the funniest joke in the world.

The laughing stopped when Winter's left hook caught him square on the jaw. The blow _sizzled_. 

The man yelled, more enraged than hurt.  
Tony watched with wide eyed wonder as Winter gracefully ducked and dodged every blow thrown his way by the hamfisted biker.  
Everything was calculated, Winter stayed several steps ahead of the guy. 

An amused smile twitched at Tony's lips when he came to the realization that Winter was playing with him. Prolonging a fight he could have won an age ago. 

Just as Tony thought Winter was going to finish it, arms came around him, locking his arms painfully in place. "You riding bitch in cripple boys bike, kid?" A gruff voice growled in his ear. Tony was hauled to his feet. "ey! Cripple! I got yer boy." There was a press of cold steel at Tony's throat.  
The man that held him stank of stale beer, sweat and grease. 

When Winter looked up, his eyes briefly met Tony's.  
Tony knew then that this was all going to be okay.  
Winter ended the fight with a kick to the big guys sternum, then when he was on his knees a swift toe to the throat. 

"Let him go!" Winter growled, advancing on the man who held Stark. "I won't be easy on you. Not now that you've threatened him." 

The knife pressed harder to Tony's neck, drawing a bead of red.  
The motion was lightning quick Tony barely caught anything but a glint of silver in Winter's right hand.  
The arm around him went slack and Tony scrambled away, putting Winter between himself and the man who nearly slit his throat. Tony did however stare daggers as he scrambled to get Winter's knife out of his shoulder.  
"Hey Tito let's bail! We got Goon here on his bike!" One of the bikers still behind them called.  
"Lucky for you guys. . ." Tito said as he ran past. 

Just like that it was over and the assholes were pulling away with a deafening roar of engines.  
Tony's arms wrapped tightly around Winter but Winter stayed tense. "Did he hurt you?" He asked, his voice tight.  
"I'm okay." Tony stated softly. 

Winter turned and lifted Tony's chin, inspecting his neck. He frowned at the small line of blood that Tito's knife had left.  
Without thinking that someone might be looking. He pressed his lips to the small wound.  
"I'm sorry for being a hot headed dumbass, Tony." 

"Not a problem. I've been in worse situations." Tony turned, hiding the rising blush. "I wanna finish my burger. Come on."

Winter smiled fondly as he followed Tony back into the diner.  
His arm was sufficiently cooled now, he flexed and a few of the plates recalibrated themselves. At least the pain was gone. 

He joined Tony back in the diner. The kid was finally eating like a starved man.  
He didn't expect a round of scattered applause from the handful of people still in the diner.  
He ducked his head and slid back into his seat.  
"I'm gonna take the rest of mine to go." He stated softly, it didn't look like Tony was going to require a box. "Unless you want it?"  
He slid the plate in front of Tony and he eyed the half burger and few fries ravenously.  
How long had Tony been starving himself?

When it came time to settle up the bill, Tony pulled a crinkled fifty from his jeans pocket. 

When his checkbook came out next, Winter watched him with curiosity.  
He scribbled what he decided was a good amount and got up to find Heather. 

She was sitting on the curb outside, smoking a cheap Pall Mall when Tony sat down beside her. "Hey Harvard." He said, bumping into her shoulder.

She shook her pack of cigarettes and offered Tony one, which he took and lit on the match she offered.  
"Your friend really is something. He a robot?" She was laughing a bit, knowing it was not the case.  
"Just like out of the sci-fi flicks." Tony joined her in laughing. "So. I have something for you but you gotta make me a promise." 

She eyed him skeptically, but intrigued. "Go on?"

"I want to give this to you." He held up the check. She reached out for it but he held it away. "The conditions are that you actually use it on Harvard. You're not allowed to get trapped in the alluring pull of lower middle class American mediocrity. You're not allowed to settle on just _enough_. You have to go out and take this world by it's goddamn balls with both hands. Otherwise it'll fuck you. And when you're a big shot lawyer with a few years under your belt, apply at Stark Industries."

Heather was already crying as he handed her the 500k check. "I promise, Mr. Stark. Oh my god you've just changed my life." She threw her arms around him.

Tony let her hug him til he heard Winter calling for him.  
"And you're not allowed to burn the diner down when you quit!" He added over his shoulder.

"That I won't promise!" 

Tony was still laughing when he hoisted his duffle bag back onto his shoulder and climbed up behind Winter. 

"Look at you out here changing lives." Winter mused. Though he was making light of it all the gesture gripped Winter's heart like a warm hand.  
This kid never ceased to amaze him. 

"Just trying to help."  
Winter felt Tony's hands sliding around his waist and he cranked the bike. 

December 26 1991 9:16pm  
____________________________________________

Winter could feel Tony starting to slip around, starting to doze off behind him.  
He knew the kid wasn't used to such long trips and it wasn't exactly easy to ride passenger on a motorcycle when tired. 

At the first sign for a motel, Winter pulled off. It was no doubt the on the lower end of the seedy scale.  
He parked outside the building denoted " _office_ " in blinking neon. 

The old man at the front desk eyed Winter suspiciously, then his eyes drifted past him to Tony who was trying not to fall asleep standing up.  
"No gay shit." He said gruffly as he handed Winter the keys to their room. 

"C'mon, man that's my kid brother. Have some respect." He huffed, giving the man a disparaging look. 

The man grunted and waved him off. 

Like fuckin hell no gay shit. 

The room was on the very end of the single storey establishment, he walked the bike over instead of starting it up again, risking Tony falling off of it and disgruntled neighbors, if there were any. 

It was hard to turn the key into the lock and Winter had to put his shoulder to the door to get in.  
At least the place looked clean. Surprisingly clean.  
Tony didn't care either way. He immediately put his bag down and fell face first onto the creaky double bed. "Oh shit I'm exhausted." He groaned.  
Winter laughed softly and sat on top of the desk that looked like it may have once housed a long gone TV.  
"Just gonna sleep then? We could do any number of things, you know. I have a deck of cards. Order a pizza or Chinese. Make out."  
Tony lifted his head. "What was that last one?"  
Winter smirked at the reaction. "Chinese? I'm always up for that." He picked up the phone and thumbed through the phonebook.  
Tony let out an exasperated groan. 

"What do you want? I'm gonna get orange chicken. . . Fuck and soup. Eggroll. . ." 

Tony made a high pitched whining sound. " _Fine_ I want cashew chicken and white rice. Oh and shrimp fried rice." 

Winter smirked at him the entire time he placed the order. 

"We have forty five minutes til it gets here." He said as he crossed over and sat with Tony. "what'll we do til then?" 

"I thought I once heard someone say they wanted to make out. It may or may not have made me feel as excited as a schoolboy again. But I'm not so sure that's what I heard anymore. That person seems to have more of a hard-on for Chinese food than for me so. . ." Tony made to move away but Winter laughed and curled him up in his arms. 

"No, I wanna make out. You heard right." He laughed, burying his face against Tony's neck. 

They took it slow, getting the feel for one another. Hands gently ran along on top of clothing. Fingers memorizing. The kisses were soft at first, chaste almost if not for the fires burning in both men's bellies.  
There was an equal give and take here, no one exerting anything over the other.  
They lay side by side, angled toward one another.  
Tony's hand was the first to explore further, sliding under Winter's tac gear as much as the rigid material would allow. It was slightly frustrating. Luckily he had watched very closely when Winter had taken it off before. His fingers were deft as they undid the straps and zippers. He didn't demand the removal of the garment though content to be able to slide his hand inside and feel the man's chest. 

Winter purred and nipped Tony's lip. Tony pressed more eagerly into their kissing, letting his lips part for Winter at last. 

Their tongues touched tentatively with the same nervous energy of a first time. Like they hadn't already had sex. Like Tony wasn't practically a professional in that department. 

The smaller of the pair was almost trembling. It was new. This feeling, this admission, that he was _so_ into this man. A man. Winter. 

He hadn't kissed anyone like this since he was in junior high, if he even had done then. 

He pulled away panting and searched Winter's eyes.  
They were so kind even when filled with lust.

"I think. . ." Tony began with a nervous hitch in his voice. Why the hell was he so nervous? "I also once heard someone saying they wanted their dick sucked." 

Winter quirked a brow. "Did they say that?" 

"I'm pretty sure. I mean he could have been drooling over egg rolls but I'm pretty sure there was some subtext." Tony rose up on his elbows, letting his eyes slowly slide over Winter's form. 

"Who is this guy to refuse?" Winter shrugged. 

Tony's hands went to Winter's belt. They shook--why were they shaking?--but he eventually got it undone.  
He hesitated on the button and zipper, looking up at Winter. 

"Never done it before?" Winter was taking purposeful, calming breaths.

Tony shook his head. Obie had tried it, tried forcing him down, shoving in til he choked, but Tony had teeth. 

"You want to though? Like, you really do, not because you think it's something I'd like?"  
His hand slowly ran through Tony's hair and down along his cheek. 

"I want to." Tony assured him. 

A knock at the door interrupted any of their plans however.  
Fuck, had it been forty five minutes already?  
Winter groaned and reluctantly extracted himself from bed.  
He considered tipping lousy for the interruption but Tony's generosity was wearing off on him. 

When he deposited the food on the desk he sat on the end of the bed, facing away from Tony.  
"Mood killed?" He asked, adjusting himself subtly. 

"Is it?" Tony slipped out of bed and knelt down in front of him on the musty carpet. 

"Nope." Winter's voice was a little strained. Just from seeing him like that his flagging erection was back to nearly full mast. "If you still want to." He leaned back a little.

"Obviously." Tony rolled his eyes as he reached for Winter's pants. 

Winter bit down on his lower lip. He was practically shivering with anticipation. 

When Tony finally had him free of the tight confines of his pants he felt _shy_. 

And then Tony's tongue flicked out over the tip of his cock and a shiver ran through him.  
If he wasn't fully hard to start with, he surely was now.

Tony pressed his tongue against him again. It wasn't bad. He let his tongue explore, taking in the feeling of it. It was soft, warm, and nothing about it reminded him of Obie's aborted attempt. 

Winter was breathing hard, his hands itched to grab hold of Stark but he stilled them. He wouldn't push. But he _would_ moan out little encouragements. 

"Fuck. amazing." Was his response to Tony sealing his lips around his tip and tonguing his slit.  
Tony smiled against him. 

His first attempt at swallowing him down left him gagging. He blushed, embarrassed, but Winter didn't seem to mind. In fact he moaned at the spasmodic tightening of Tony's throat.  
"E-easy." He lifted Tony up, rubbing his thumb over his flushed, glistening lips. "Take it slow." 

Goddamn, all the girls Tony had had made it look easy.  
When Winter let him resume he did indeed take it slow. He bobbed his head over what he could manage.  
Precum and spit dripped down his chin.  
He was an absolute vision.

Winter was so close already from this sloppy, amateurish blowjob. His metal hand came down and gripped his base painfully tight. He couldn't cum just yet. He wanted to see Tony really get into a rhythm. 

It actually didn't take long for Tony. While he wasn't exactly a quick study with this, he did know how to work with what he had. 

Tony's hands pried Winter's fingers free from his length. The way he looked up at him, _FUCK_. He hollowed out his cheeks, and took it slow.  
Tony knew exactly what was about to happen. How could he not? With Winter's cock twitching as it was, his balls tight.  
He made to pull back but Tony attempted taking him to the base once more and it was over for Winter. He cried out, deep and resonate.  
Tony held himself down, swallowing all the man's salty, bitter cum.  
Only a bit escaped slipping down his chin.

When he pulled off he panted hard, looking up at Winter for approval.  
His eyes were red and streaming from the effort to not gag, but he was absolutely gorgeous to Winter. A single metal finger scooped up the bit of cum on his chin and slid into his mouth.  
Tony moaned as he sucked it clean.  
"Fuck. That was amazing." Winter breathed. 

Tony laughed softly. "I don't think so. Couldn't have been." 

"I assure you. It was." Winter pulled him into bed and kissed all over his face. "Can I return the favor?"

"No. I'm too tired. . . I want you to feed me." He grinned. "It has to be getting cold." 

The night ended with Winter delicately feeding morsels of half-cold cashew chicken to Tony first with chopsticks and then with just his fingers.  
Tony dozed off before they were halfway done and Winter boxed up the leftovers, storing them in the mini fridge.

Tony didn't stir when Winter tucked him in and cradled his body to him. "Night Stark" he cooed, kissing Tony's temple.


	6. Glycerine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry the update has taken so long. Stupid holidays.

December 27, 1991 8:30 am  
____________________________________________

Tony woke up sticky.  
Fuck that was embarrassing. He hadn't done that since he was a teenager. Then again he had fallen asleep full of Chinese food and semi hard. 

Slowly he extracted himself from Winter's arms, so as not to wake him. 

When he padded to the bathroom he closed the door slowly, turning the knob so the latch closing wouldn't make a sound. 

He peeled off his underwear and threw them into the sink. He used the cheap hotel shampoo to wash them then hung them up on the peg on the back of the door to dry. He was still ridiculously embarrassed. 

He caught sight of himself in the mirror as he was going to turn on the shower.  
It gave him pause. He turned to look fully at himself. The dark circles under his eyes were fading.  
He looked at his shoulders. Obie's bites were still there but peppered between them were the gentle purple marks from Winter's lips.  
It made him feel warm all over. He sighed, smiling as he let his fingers ghost over the most recent.

He was falling hard and he didn't want it to stop, he was ready for it. 

His shower was quick but when he emerged Winter was already up and about, sniffing at his tac gear, with a box of cold takeout in his other hand. "God this stinks." He tossed the garment down and disappeared out the door. 

Tony stared after him, confused until he returned with a change of clothes.  
It excited Tony to no end that he'd get to see Winter in civilian clothes. The only time he'd seen him in anything other than the tac gear was the sweater.  
He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't notice when the man actually disappeared into the bathroom. Until he was coming out of it with naught but a towel draped around his waist. 

It made Tony's mouth go dry. 

The Navy blue Henley Winter pulled on was missing it's left arm. It was neatly hemmed and fit just around the metal prosthetic. 

"H-hey Winter?"  
The man paused in hopping around on one foot, trying to get into his almost-black blue jeans.  
"Hm?"he queried, his expression was almost like he just remembered Tony was there.

"You're certainly being hasty in getting dressed. Is there a problem?" Tony was fidgeting with the rip on the knee of his own jeans-- they were all he'd even put on as of yet.  
Winter's smile was easy, sparkling even if Tony was being sappy.  
"No problem." He let the pants drop and moved to straddle Tony's lap, kissing him softly. "Just, if I don't get dressed now, I'll end up paying for another night at this shithole." He kissed him again, more firmly this time, tongue immediately demanding entrance.  
He'd never been in this position with Winter.  
The bigger man was good at not crushing him with his weight though and that was a plus.  
He parted his lips eagerly for Winter, pulling him in closer. Fuck he was perfect.  
He understood now what Winter had meant. Both men were already sporting semis.  
Tony pulled back sheepishly. "Check out time is soon?" He asked hopeful that it was at least a couple hours away.  
Winter nodded and groaned. "We have, maybe fifteen minutes." 

Tony whined. 

"I know." Winter leaned in and kissed both of his cheeks then the tip of his nose. "By the way. . . You moaned my name in your sleep last night." He grinned wickedly, grinding down on Tony only briefly before hopping to his feet.  
The brief action left Tony panting. "Oh my god you're a tease." 

Winter slid into his pants, adjusting himself. "Tease? Me? Never" 

Tony was suddenly imagining what he could do with Winter in that position again. Straddling his lap, grinding against him, his bare ass--  
"I'll pay for the extra day!" Tony cried out, practically begging. 

Winter crossed back over to him and kissed him softly. "If you can wait for just a little while, we can do this in my bed. Where it's clean and we can take our time." He let his lips lightly trail down Tony's neck. "I kinda have a thing for bathrooms too. We can soak afterward, I'll feed you strawberries and kiss you til you feel like you're going to come unglued. Then I'll taste every last inch of you. I'm going to keep you on the edge for hours so I can watch you fly apart." 

The low, sultry tone Winter used had Tony panting, his eyes hooded and blown with lust. He didn't want to wait. He was so hard that it hurt. "Winter. Please." He begged his thighs were shaking.  
Winter palmed him lightly through his jeans. Tony bucked up into the friction. Winter allowed this, let him rut against his hand til he felt it twitching.  
"I know what you were thinking about when I was sitting on your lap." He purred.

"Mmh?" Tony found himself aching for contact, Winter had gotten him so close with his hand. 

"You were thinking that you'd like my ass. You want to see me impaled on you, you want to make me moan your name as you fill me. Right?" Winter's hand slipped inside Tony's pants and began to quickly jerk him off. "Answer me, lover." 

Tony had no idea Winter could be that seductively filthy. Nevertheless he was bucking wildly into the man's hand now  
"Y-yes! That's wha--- aah! _fuck_ , Winter!" Tony cried out his release coating Winter's hand and making a sticky mess in his pants for a second time.  
Winter cleaned Tony up. He cooed soft apologies for being so aggressive. He hadn't really wanted to push the kid. "Hey, you okay?" He asked, worrying his lip with his teeth.  
Tony nodded and let Winter slip him into clean clothes. "Well one thing really. I probably shouldn't be so candid. It's only gotten me into trouble in the past. But I guess here goes. I'm falling so hard for you Mr Burglar." 

Winter smiled slowly. It was kind of painful for him to hear. He had similar, no identical feelings but, he knew he wasn't the type of man who got to have things like this. He'd had everything taken from him. Hell he was almost seventy five goddamn years old even though he looked no older than thirty. That is if the old Hydra records were to believed  
Not that he remembered most of it. Not that he hadn't spent most of that time in cryo. It wasn't like he had the life experience of a seventy five year old man. 

He didn't say anything and it hurt. Tony let his head drop. 

"Let's get going before that asshole at the front desk gives us trouble." Winter pulled Tony to his feet and handed him his coat and the scarf Ana had made. 

Winter also pulled a thick leather coat on. It too was missing the left sleeve. It would have been cripplingly handsome if Tony wasn't focused on the ache in his heart. 

Winter could tell that he'd fucked up by staying silent. That poor abused kid was being open and he'd blown it. He felt like such an asshole. 

"Hey Tony." He tried as they were getting ready to hop on the bike. "I uh...--"

"No I get it." Tony cut him off. "I'm just a dumb kid to you. Something that needed rescuing. Maybe just a willing hole to fuck but I'd not say that because you're being so fucking amazing with me." Tony's eyes welled, spilled over. 

"Tony you're absolutely wrong." Winter tilted his head up so he could look into those reddening eyes. "Tony, I'm just scared. I don't think I've ever felt anything like this. And, kid, I'm old. Like too old for you technically." 

Tony scoffed, rolling his big eyes. "Ive slept with thirty two year old women. And don't forget Obie." 

"I guarantee I'm older than him." 

"Jesus, Winter, I've had some crazy rejections before but I swear to Christ this is the strangest. How old are you? Lemme guess you're eighty? Or what? Two hundred thirteen?" He shoved Winter's hand away from his chin.  
The man's brow furrowed and his mouth set in a hard line. 

"Tony, on March 10th I'll be seventy five." 

"Be serious!." Tony laughed slowly at first then it became almost hysterical. "All I care about is how you make me feel."  
Winter pressed his lips to Tony's mostly to silence him, partly because he knew Tony was working himself up into a panic attack. 

"I care about you, Tony, I have feelings for you. Strong ones." He kissed him again briefly. "Now, c'mon. Let's go get breakfast, a Stark too good for drive thru?" He laughed and Tony actually found himself laughing too.

The bike roared to life and they peeled of down the road.  
Tony held tight, pushing his face against Winter's back.  
They ate at a little place off the road, one of those mom and pop burger places. It didn't have a dining room, just a window to order at and pick up.  
Even though it was lightly snowing Winter and Tony sat on one of the rickety picnic tables and ate. Their silence was companionable. Tony leaned against Winter finishing off his fries. They each had different and pressing things running through their heads.  
Tony was wondering about his future, about what he would do. About Winter and how he should try to stop these feelings before he was hurt beyond anything that had ever happened to him before.

Winter was kicking himself for all the aggressive dirty talk and the way he had reacted to the kids confession. He honestly didn't know if he was capable of really loving someone and that was scary. 

"Hey Tony?" Winter broke the silence as he tossed the wrapper of his sandwich into the trash. "I'm sorry. I feel like I got off on entirely the wrong foot with you today. First I was really aggressive in the way I spoke to you, sexually. I feel like I was coming on a little strong, maybe crossed a line. And secondly," he heaved a sigh. "Kid I think I love you and it's scaring the hell outta me."

Tony laced his fingers in Winter's. "I'm scared too. It's like something that shouldn't be happening so fast. I mean, you're the most unexpected thing. You have rescued me, and you're just the most wonderful person I've met in a long, long time. I never saw myself with a man. God and biker brawls? Shady motel rooms? I'm hooked on the whole thing." He sighed and looked up at the cloudy winter sky.  
"I want to really be with you." He stated firmly. 

"I wanna be with you too." He gave Tony's hand a little squeeze.

"I have ideas. When we get to where we're going, I can mock them up. I think I can fix that heat issue with your arm." Tony was presently kissing the fingertips of said metal appendage. 

"When do you have the time to think of something like that?" Winter chuckled.

"Oh, my brain never shuts off. Or haven't you heard?" Tony too laughed.

When they were back on the road again, the shaking started.  
Winter could feel Tony's hands trembling even with all the vibrating the motorcycle was doing.  
Tony's face pressed harder against Winter's back. 

Winter pulled over at the first convenient spot, a wide patch of dirt on the roadside.  
Tony slumped against him after pulling off the helmet he wore.  
"You're not okay." Winter stated, looking Tony over. He was ashen, his skin was getting clammy and he was trembling like a leaf.

"Listen, W-winter I know I'm being a lot of trouble. I know you wanted to get home today but I need to lay down." His teeth were chattering. 

"Are you sick? W-whats the matter?" Winter held him protectively. 

"To b-be honest. I might have to be a lot more trouble. I'll pay for everything. Just... I can hold on. I'll hold on til you find a good hotel. A _good one_." He pulled his helmet back on. "Hurry." 

Winter didn't know what else to do other than follow orders. He drove fast, fearing that at any moment Tony would fall off the back of the bike. Luckily the worse Tony felt the tighter he held on. 

They'd made their way down into a higher class part of the state and resorts were in supply. This was the kind of stretch of country Winter would ride through sleep deprivation just to avoid the cost of a few hours sleep. But his passenger was Tony Stark and being a Stark meant money. 

The hotel Winter pulled up to looked like something out of a holiday postcard,  
Icicles and all. 

Tony had to be half carried up the short steps into the place but once they paid and had their room keys he practically ran to the elevator ahead of the bellhop.  
Winter followed, feeling awkward that someone was carrying his shabby bag. 

When he got into the room, Tony was already somewhere within the practically palatial space loudly throwing up-- or retching by the sound of it.

Winter tipped the bellhop his last twenty and searched down the hall for Tony. He'd never been in a hotel with more than one room.  
There were two bedrooms, a huge living room/kitchen combination and this last door must be the bathroom. 

When he opened it Tony was just sliding down onto the rug, curling up in a trembling ball. 

"Tony!" Winter gathered him up in his arms. "Can you tell me what's wrong?" He gently pat the kid's face trying to keep him alert enough to speak. 

"I'm . . . I don't feel very well." There was a sheen of sweat over his body, yet he was freezing. "I think it's." He squeezed his eyes closed trying to think, trying to form one coherent thought.  
The only thing he wanted down to a subatomic level was a drink and maybe just one little bump of cocaine, definitely any pill he could get his hands on. How long had it been since he'd had anything one day? Two?  
He hadn't gone this long without at least half a bottle of something in what? 

Years.  
It'd been years since he was entirely sober. 

"Winter can you find drugs?" He was asking with clear desperation in his voice. He felt nothing but shame and need. "And liquor? C-call room service they can bring that at least."

Winter looked down kind of shocked at Tony's words. "You. . ." He tried picking over his words so as not to offend. "You don't want to try and get clean?" 

"Slowly." Tony stated in a defeated voice. Fuck, he knew he had disappointed Winter and the shame deepened to some of the ever familiar self loathing he dealt with on a regular basis. "I'm bad. I'm an alcoholic, Winter." He'd never admitted that out loud to anyone. 

"Okay, but the drugs?" He cradled Tony and his face showed only concern. No judgement was there. 

"Please. Winter." Tony's heart was racing, Winter could feel his pulse pounding. 

"Have you ever tried getting clean before?" 

"O-once." He'd done something, some transgression that even his tormentor probably didn't recall now, and Obie had cut him off. He'd ended up having seizures and hallucinations.  
When Obadiah came to check on him he'd begged the man for something to ease the pain, to make him feel normal again.  
Of course the price of forgiveness was high. It was the first time Stane had made his ass bleed. Then Obie had left, tossing a baggie of coke down beside him.  
Tony never wanted to live that shame again. He never wanted to pay for something with his body again. 

He closed his eyes and held tighter to Winter. Tears slipped from beneath his eyelids. "Will you stay with me? Through the worst of it?"  
He knew his resolve not to use was dependant on what Winter said. 

"Of course I will, what kind of boyfriend would I be if I abandoned you?"

Boyfriend. Tony would have been beyond ecstatic about that word had he been well.  
Still, his heart leapt. "Love you." He managed as the next wave of nausea hit him. 

January 4th, 1992.  
____________________________________________

It took a week. A week of fear and pain and tears.  
The third day had been the worst. Tony convulsed most of the day and cried almost incoherently about Howard's mistreatment of him.  
Winter learned a lot about him like this. He learned a lot about why the kid would be driven to drink. He learned to blame Obie for the drug use. Another reason to kill the man. 

Winter didn't leave the entire time. The man was Tony's anchor. Fuck, he loved him. 

On the ninth day, Winter woke to an empty bed. Startled he sat bolt upright.  
His eyes immediately settled on Tony's back. He was sitting at the dining table, a large piece of paper and a blueprint spread before him, pencil scratching away. He looked freshly showered and he was entirely naked.  
"Tony?" Winter called out to him. 

"Morning, dear. I ordered room service. Should be up in a minute. Come look at this?"  
Winter extracted himself from bed and picked his way over to drop into the chair beside Stark. "What's this, doll?" He asked, leaning to press a kiss to Tony's shoulder. 

"Mmm. I think I've learned how to miniaturize this Arc Reactor. It'll fix everything." Tony didn't elaborate as to what "everything" was. 

"Are you feeling better?" Winter asked, tilting Tony's head back to kiss him so very softly. 

"I'm still tired. Have aches and pains. God, kiss me again. I've missed it." 

Their next kiss turned into something needy and left them both panting.  
"You up for. . .?" Winter asked through the haze of lust in his head. 

"I think I'll just die if we don't."  
Winter picked him up like he weighed nothing and carried him back to bed.  
He positioned Stark so that he was sitting up against the headboard.  
Winter then hopped up to sit straddling Tony's thighs. "I want you so bad." He groaned, pressing more kisses to every inch of Tony's skin he could. His tongue licked into Tony's open mouth and the kid whimpered.  
He ground down on him, the only thing separating their flesh was Winter's thin pajama pants. "Will you fuck me, Stark?" He groaned out.

He was met with Tony's hands gripping his hips hard. The smaller of the pair arched his hips up, letting the drag of cloth on his cock draw a soft moan from him. 

They took it slow kissing tenderly and whispering sweet things to one another. 

Tony took both their cocks in hand while Winter prepped himself. "Unnh, fuck. I want you so bad, Tony." 

It was a surprise when Tony, skinny and weak though he was, flipped Winter onto his stomach on the bed.  
Winter gasped in surprise and anticipation.  
He heard the click of the bottle of lube and the sound of Tony slicking himself up.  
When he felt the warmth of Tony's cock sliding between his cheeks, he twisted his upper body so he could look back at him. 

When it pressed inside, Winter threw his head back and moaned so prettily. "O-oh, gah--- god."  
He pushed himself back, trying to get more of Tony into him. Tony however was intent on savoring this. Sure he'd had women in this position, but this? This was Winter. This was the man he adored. 

When Tony was fully seated in him the kid chanced to look down at Winter's face. He was still contorted to look up at him, bracing himself on his arms, one of muscular flesh and the other sculpted metal.  
His face was flushed beautifully. His eyes were half closed and his mouth open in a silent moan.  
When Tony popped his hips he cried out more of those sweet moans. 

"Aa-- ahhh... Oh fuck. Stark, your dick is so f-fucking b-big." His voice was a strained whisper hitching to barely audible at the end. 

Tony hadn't ever really thought about his cock being above average but if Winter said so then it must be. 

When Tony began to pull back, Winter let his arms go limp, falling forward slightly. He bit the pristine white sheets, muffling his wanton moaning. The drag of Tony's cock on his walls was just too much. It had been too long since he'd had someone do this. 

When Tony practically slammed back in, Winter gasped out a shaking moan. "Ah---ohhh fuck!" He twisted back around to look up at Tony. His hands clutched at the sheets, his breaths came in little gasps. 

Tony was quick to pick up a steady pace. Nothing too hard just yet but the sound of their flesh connecting echoed in the space. 

He'd never heard anyone moan like Winter. It was like the smallest things made him come unglued. Tony adored that he didn't try to bite a single sound back.  
It had only taken Tony a few moments to figure out the ins and outs of fucking a man. He knew enough about his own anatomy to know to seek out that sensitive spot. When he found it, he made an effort to at least graze it with each motion.  
Winter's moans were starting to sound like broken sobs interspersed with. "O-oh fuck! Oh god!" He was working his own dick with his hand, keeping time with Tony.  
When he half-whispered "oh my god I love your big dick in my ass." Tony had to still himself, had to pull out to let his building release fade a bit. 

"You gonna cum for me?" Tony found himself blushing as he spoke but something about this, the man splayed beneath him, his skin, his voice, everything-- drew something half primal out in Tony.

"Y-yes! Please, fuck me, Tony." 

It took barely a push to his hip to get Winter on his back. He held his legs up and apart, gripping his bent knees. "Please." He pleaded as Tony moved back between them. 

His cock pushed in deep til he bottomed out. Winter arched against him, "f-fuck yeah, Tony. Oh god." He let one leg be moved to Tony's shoulder. The smaller man leaned in and claimed Winter's mouth. He was met eagerly, loud, needy kisses interspersed with soft moans as Tony began moving his hips. 

When Winter begged "Harder. Fuck me." Tony moved back, he rolled his hips at first, just making the other man feel how deep he was. Winter whined and reached out to grip onto the arm Tony was using to steady himself. "Please." He begged, biting his lower lip.  
When Tony snapped his hips forward he gasped. "Yes!"  
Tony's hips moved faster, he pulled out and slammed forward, rocking the larger body beneath him.  
Winter's moans became incoherent. They indeed sounded like sobs now. He was jerking his cock with his metal hand.  
"I'm so close!" He cried.  
Tony was right there with him, his hips were moving irregularly now as the pleasure mounted. He was seeing stars. "Oh my god, Winter!" He buried himself deep as he came, filling Winter with thick milky cum. Winter felt the heat of him fill him up. It was mere seconds before he followed Tony, shooting his own load well over his head, splattering on his chest, his face in the process. "Oh my god!" He screamed out. He was truly nearly in tears.  
He pulled Tony in, desperate for affection tenderness to soothe the edge of their heated actions. "Oh my god that was so good." He whispered against Tony's lips as they kissed. "You're amazing, Tony." 

Tony ran his fingers through Winter's hair, gently rubbing his scalp. "I love you, Winter." He purred. 

"I love you too." Winter didn't hesitate this time. 

When they sat in the bath some time later, nibbling fresh fruit, Tony turned to him and kissed his neck. "I'm ready to go home with you. I wanna see everything you've told me about."


	7. A Few Minutes to Be

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They arrive at Winter's home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gee whiz it's been a while. Follow me on Tumblr! [here](https://ibuckybarnes.tumblr.com/)

January 6th, 1992  
____________________________________________

The space was cavernous to say the least and, filled to the brim with tech the likes of which only a Stark could imagine.

Tony was in awe of it all. He flit around the facility like a spring-drunk butterfly. "So dad _was_ here!?" He exclaimed, looking over everything. His fingers grazed over Stark Industries logos and blueprints clearly made by Howard.

"I could. . . I could work here." That spark of wonder that endeared him to Winter was plain in his voice, his face, he was dripping with possibility and prospect. Winter smiled in that restrained way he had as he let Tony practically dance ahead of him.

"Well, if you intend to stay here I suggest you _do_ familiarize yourself with the gear." A commanding voice pulled Tony's attention up to a metal catwalk denoting the second floor of the facility.  
A very-- admittedly--- intimidating African American man stood with his hands splayed on the guard rail. He wore a leather duster coat and his eye was bandaged. The wound looked nasty but Tony wouldn't comment on that. He did however wonder if the man was down an eye because of it.

The man continued: "I'm Nick Fury, current director of S.H.I.E.L.D. I hear you've become close with our top field agent. Welcome to the family, Stark. Get settled in, I'll be briefing you on your role here right after lunch."  
He cast a glance at Winter that Tony couldn't quite get a read on. Winter stiffened a little under the gaze then nodded taking Tony by the elbow.

"Rooms this way. They'll give you your own, but mine'll do til then." Winter's demeanor was changed. He was suddenly all business and it kind of made Tony a little nervous. Where were those soft, passing touches and gentle gazes?

The hallway he let Winter drag him down was gently sloping downward. The facility was already underground and this made Tony wonder how far it went down into the earth.  
Tony's mind wandered so much that he didn't realize they'd made it into Winter's sparsely furnished quarters until the man was taking Tony's bags gently from him.

Winter still moved stiffly almost as if his whole body were robotic as his arm.  
He placed Tony's duffel on the steel desk that dominated one wall and reached for the coat Tony had slung over his arm.

Tony reached and grabbed his hand, making him still himself. "Winter, what's wrong? Is. . . Is it me?"

Winter blinked almost like he were looking at Tony for the first time. "Oh Tony. I'm-- no it's not you."  
He sighed heavily and drew Tony in for a gentle hug. "Sometimes something switches in my head, usually around authority figures. I flip into Soldier mode I guess." He kissed Tony's temple and let him go, stepping back just a bit.

"Soviet shit?" Tony asked.

Winter gave a non-committal shrug and went to hang Tony's coat up. "Lunch?"

"Starving."

Lunch wasn't a fancy affair and everyone seemed to give Winter a wide berth. An extra wide berth.

Tony sat across from him at their otherwise empty table. Other members of staff seemed content to crowd in too close together-- like sardines-- at already full tables. 

Curious, thought Tony. He kept lightly touching Winter's hand, stealing little glances. He ignored Winters sudden change in demeanor. Well, he ignored it until he couldn't any longer. "Wanna talk about it?" He asked, looking up from his tinned fruit cocktail. 

Winter shook his head slightly. "It's. . . Understandable." He admitted in a vague way. 

"What is?" 

"That they avoid me." It was almost like Tony could feel waves of ice rolling off the man. "You will too, I suppose. After your meeting." 

"Doubtful." Tony remarked and speared a barely recognizable chunk of pear with his fork. "You're my new drug of choice." He grinned and Winter couldn't help but return it.   
______

Nick Fury was sitting at his expansive desk, a thick file lay before him. He sat with his elbows on the surface of the desk, fingers steepled in front of his face. 

"So, another Stark I have to put up with." Fury said, leaning back a bit to take all of Tony's slightly dishevelled appearance in. "You know what you've stumbled into? _Who_ you've stumbled into?" 

Nick slid the file across the table and Tony read the bold typeface on the label  
 _" **The Winter Soldier** "_

Tony flipped the file open to a mugshot of Winter. He was beat up and wild looking. 

"He's a little pet project of ours." Tony didn't like the sound of _pet project_ but he didn't voice that.  
"You're aware who he really is, aren't you, Stark?" Nick continued.  
The name Winter Fury was obviously fake. It had to be.   
"No." Tony admitted.   
Nick was surprised, honestly, with Tony's father being who he was. But then again Howard was an asshole and Tony was purportedly a train wreck. 

Nick sighed and tossed another, less thick file on top of the Winter Soldier file. It was old, faded and discolored. "Sgt James B Barnes" was written on it in neat script. 

"You're fucking with me." Tony flipped the file open and looked at the yellowed photos and documents.   
The hair was longer, there was less. . . Not age per se, no, world weariness, yes. Less world weariness on James Barnes' face but other than that and the metal arm. . .they were identical.   
"You're telling me that Winter is _Bucky!?_. Captain America's Bucky?" Tony practically shrieked. 

"It'd do you good to keep your voice down, Stark." Fury fixed him in a sharp gaze. 

"He doesn't know. He doesn't know who he is and you're keeping it from him?!" Tony started at a normal tone but his pitch steadily rose.

"Stark, he doesn't remember. He refused to believe it. He has no memory of Cap or, the war. . . Just here and Hydra." Fury sighed, deflating a bit. "He's touchy about it. Sometimes saying any of those names, Barnes, Bucky, James. . . Triggers a blackout episode. We think it's a Fail-Safe a deactivate button if you will." 

Tony was reeling. This was too farfetched.   
"How's he still so young?" Tony gasped but then Winter had tried telling him his age. Tried voicing his concerns. 

"Cryo."

"Cryo?! We're decades away from that tech!" Stark protested. "Decades!"

Fury scoffed. "We could demonstrate but it's painful." 

Tony gulped and took a step back. "I almost wanna take you up on that." He snarked to hide his apprehension. 

Fury chuckled and shook his head. "sometimes hearing his name triggers something negative in him." He stated getting back to a serious note. "We've had help getting a _lot_ of the programming out that the Soviets put in. But not all of it. And for the love of God don't show the man _anything_ to do with Captain America." 

Tony scoffed, fat chance of him even bringing up the good Captain. "No worries there sir." He didn't know it but the way he'd crossed his arms with his hip cocked out, made him look like a petulant child. 

"Uh-huh." Fury nodded. "So, your job here for the next few days is to come here every day at around this time to be debriefed about The Soldier. You have a few videos to watch that are required around these parts. It won't be any fun for any of us but the outcome is _understanding_ "

"If that's the outcome, then why do all the people here avoid him like he's got a bad case of plague? Or rabies?" Tony couldn't help but ask. 

"As I said, _understanding_ " Fury sat back down in his chair. "After your little movie-thon you have full reign of the lab here. Now I suggest you get some rest, maybe explore a little. You're diamissed, Stark."

\-------

Tony couldn't get out of that office fast enough. He walked without thinking much til he looked around and noted that he was completely and utterly lost.

"Shit." He breathed out loud to himself. 

The area he was in was dark and pipes ran along the walls. He tried to think back on how many turns he'd blindly taken. Left Right, right, right, lef-- no that wasn't it. 

He tried backtracking but just ended up more lost. A deluge of curses escaped him.  
Some of these hallways were nearly pitch black dark, he could hear dripping water. 

His heart pounded in his ears as panic started to set in. He was running now, feet echoing eerily, almost making it sound like there was more than one person, almost like he was being followed. 

His lungs were burning by the time he forced himself to stop.   
Slowly he let himself sink down to the floor, resting his back against the cold block wall.   
He lets his eyes close and he tries grounding himself.   
Somebody would come looking for him eventually. Somebody who knows the layout of the place. 

When Tony was sufficiently calm he tried to take stock of his surroundings. Pitch black hallway stretching out in front, and the same from the way he'd come. There was a faint blue glow coming from somewhere. 

Curiosity, some people might argue it was one of his most reckless qualities. It had certainly gotten him into more interesting situations than erring on the side of caution ever would. More interesting beds too but that was another point entirely.  
He pushed down all the panic in favor of it now. He stood and looked around, trying to pinpoint the source, his feet taking him further into the hall.   
Suddenly he was face to face with a steel door, the blue light filtering out through the cracks. He tried the knob and to his surprise it swung open with a slight creaking of its hinges.   
He didn't hesitate in ducking inside. 

It was a lab of some sort, though he'd never seen one like it. There was along table full of instruments. So, medical. He nodded to himself.   
The glow was coming from a huge tank on the far wall. It was old, tarnished and it looked like something out of a horror film. But what made Tony shudder was the huge machine between him and the tank. It was a chair of sorts, nestled under two large lights and on either side was complicated machinery. Two screens sat dark on either side. The chair had restraints.   
With an utter lack of caution, Tony touched the buttons one by one at the base of one of the screens. 

There was a harsh sound, a grating of metal on metal and mechanics churning to life. The screen flickered on and twin semi-circles of steel slid up from the back, hovering just above the chair portion of the machine.  
Tony stared at the face in profile on the screen for a long time. Winter, gaunt and feral looking, his hair a greasy mess.   
Tony's heart pounded. Words flickered across the screen but they were all in Russian. The date though, the date hovering at the top of the screen he could read. **3/10/1988**.   
Tony took a step back, looking at the room. If timeless matched up with what Winter had told him, he was in this very room on that date. 

It was a lucky button press that played the footage. 

"What's your name?" Someone of screen spoke in English. 

"Barnes, James Buchanan, Sargeant, 32557038." Winter gasped.

The off screen man made a little noise of disapprovals and the machine whirred to life. A gloved hand shoved a rubber guard into Winter's mouth. The way Winters eyes dilated, the way he shook when he opened his mouth for it made Tony's stomach twist in knots. 

When Winter was pushed back into the chair and the semi circles encompassed his head Tony had to look away. His eyes landed on the seat of the chair. The very chair in the recording. He heard the crackling of electricity and heard Winter's screams. 

Here, this happened _here_. Winter knew who he was. Or he had known. 

The screams ended painful minutes later but Tony still couldn't look back at the screen. He could hear Winter gasping, sobbing.   
"What is your name?" The man asked again.

"Ready to comply." Is all Winter replied. 

Tony ran.   
He ran til his lungs burned, til his legs ached. He was running more blindly than before but this time it wasn't fruitless.   
One of the corridors he hurtled down spilled out into the sloping hallway Winter had taken him through on the way in.

\---------------  
Winter was reading a thin paperback when Tony slammed bodily into him.   
"Tony what?!" Winter exclaimed,trying to right himself on the bed.   
Tony burrowed his face into Winter's sweater, a sob tearing from his throat. 

"Tony? What happened? What did he show you?" Winter pried Tony's face off him and made the young man look him in the eye. Tony's eyes were swimming with tears unshed and his cheeks were wet with ones he had. 

"Nothing. He didn't show me a goddamn thing. Winter, we have to leave. We have to go." Tony cried, hysterical. 

"Breathe doll." Winter soothed, silently checking Tony over for marks or anything indicating injury. 

"Winter, _please_." Tony sobbed. 

"I'm listening, babe. I'm all ears." Winter was all schooled calm. His hands rubbed lightly up and down Tony's arms. 

"Winter they hurt you." 

The older man's eyes narrowed, expression darkening. "Who did?"  
Saying _"they hurt you"_ didn't exactly narrow things down as far as Winter was concerned. 

"These people. Here! I got lost! I saw it! I saw a chair and a video." 

Winter stiffened bodily. "Can you show me?" He asked and Tony shook his head. 

"It was. . . Down in the dark. Down a hallway or seventy hallways. I. . ." Tony suddenly felt sick, stomach threatening to expel whatever was left in it from lunch.

"Please breathe for me." Winter begged, catching Tony's wild eyed gaze again. The bigger man shifted so he could settle Tony back onto the bed.

Tony nodded and closed his eyes, trying to get his emotions under control. 

"Things are different here since Fury. . . But I thought he'd gotten rid of that. . ." The last part was a whisper, not entirely meant for Tony's ears. 

Winter stood, grabbed a glass of water from the bedside table and handed it to Tony. 

"Tony, nothing like that happens anymore. Not in a long time." Winter assured him, running metal fingertips over his cheek. 

"But you're _Bucky_." 

There was no violent reaction like Fury had warned against. Winter just closed his eyes and bit his lower lip.   
"I'm not. I haven't been since the 40s. I told you. I don't have any memories of that time in my life Hydra wi--" 

"But you said your name in the video."

" _What?_ " 

"Your name, rank and number. Barnes, James Buchanan, Sargeant, 32557038." Tony closed his repeating those words that were etched into his brain like a tattoo. 

"I said. . ?" Winter moved back a bit from Tony, confusion etched in his features. "That's not possible, Tony, I. . ."   
The huge, powerful man before Tony suddenly looked so small and scared. 

"Winter, do you want to run?" Tony asked urgently. 

Winter leans in and steals a heated kiss. "I've never run from anything. I'm not going to now. I need answers and I'll burn S.H.I.E.L.D to the ground to get them."


End file.
